Article Short description
Summarize this content to 100 words
Coalition The New York City Coalition to End Lead Poisoning conducted a study and found that lead pipes are still used to supply water to more than 900,000 homes in the city, despite the fact that their use was banned more than 60 years ago . Nearly half of all buildings in Brooklyn and Manhattan get water through pipes that are made of lead. It’s a dangerous heavy metal that can cause permanent brain damage and other developmental problems in children, according to Gothamist.
“Replacing lead pipes is essential to public health,” said Joan Mathews, senior lawyer at the Natural Resources Defense Council, who contributed to the report. So she and the report’s other authors are urging the city council to pass legislation requiring city officials to replace lead pipes within the next decade.
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said the city’s water is treated in a special way to prevent pipes from corroding. It is the chemical reaction of corrosion that can lead to the fact that lead exfoliates from pipes and enters the water supply system.
“While we agree that lead piping needs to be removed and are actively working to do so, New York City’s daily water supply is safe,” said Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala.
On the subject: How clean is the water on New York beaches, and how to find out its quality
Where do lead pipes grow legs from?
The level of lead in water passing through lead pipes can increase depending on the temperature and composition of the water. Nearly a decade ago, Flint, Michigan, experienced a lead crisis after simply changing the source of the city’s water pipes.
In 1961, New York banned the installation of new lead pipes. But many of the earlier lead water lines still remain underground, and their exact number remains unclear.
A panel of experts from the New York Coalition to End Lead Poisoning studied plumbing reports and concluded that about 40% of citywide plumbing most likely includes lead pipes. These lines provide water to approximately 1.8 million people, or more than 20% of the city’s population.
Report Conclusions:
58% of New York’s pipelines are definitely lead-free;
26% – potentially contain lead;
16% definitely contain lead.
Pollution Leaders
Brooklyn and Manhattan lead in the proportion of such plumbing, with 46% and 44% of their plumbing, respectively, potentially having lead pipes. At the same time, the Bronx has the largest number of confirmed lead pipes (21% of all pipelines in the area definitely contain lead, and another 21% potentially contain it). Staten Island had a below average proportion of lead lines at the borough level (39%), but the Port Richmond borough, located on the North Shore, had the highest proportion of lead lines (61% of its pipes are estimated to contain lead).
You can read the full text of the report here.
(function (d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s);
js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/ru_RU/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.7”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
One in five New Yorkers drink toxic water because of lead pipes
Coalition The New York City Coalition to End Lead Poisoning conducted a study and found that lead pipes are still used to supply water to more than 900,000 homes in the city, despite the fact that their use was banned more than 60 years ago . Nearly half of all buildings in Brooklyn and Manhattan get water through pipes that are made of lead. It’s a dangerous heavy metal that can cause permanent brain damage and other developmental problems in children, according to Gothamist.
“Replacing lead pipes is essential to public health,” said Joan Mathews, senior lawyer at the Natural Resources Defense Council, who contributed to the report. So she and the report’s other authors are urging the city council to pass legislation requiring city officials to replace lead pipes within the next decade.
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said the city’s water is treated in a special way to prevent pipes from corroding. It is the chemical reaction of corrosion that can lead to the fact that lead exfoliates from pipes and enters the water supply system.
“While we agree that lead piping needs to be removed and are actively working to do so, New York City’s daily water supply is safe,” said Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala.
On the subject: How clean is the water on New York beaches, and how to find out its quality
Where do lead pipes grow legs from?
The level of lead in water passing through lead pipes can increase depending on the temperature and composition of the water. Nearly a decade ago, Flint, Michigan, experienced a lead crisis after simply changing the source of the city’s water pipes.
In 1961, New York banned the installation of new lead pipes. But many of the earlier lead water lines still remain underground, and their exact number remains unclear.
A panel of experts from the New York Coalition to End Lead Poisoning studied plumbing reports and concluded that about 40% of citywide plumbing most likely includes lead pipes. These lines provide water to approximately 1.8 million people, or more than 20% of the city’s population.
Report Conclusions:
- 58% of New York’s pipelines are definitely lead-free;
- 26% – potentially contain lead;
- 16% definitely contain lead.
Pollution Leaders
Brooklyn and Manhattan lead in the proportion of such plumbing, with 46% and 44% of their plumbing, respectively, potentially having lead pipes. At the same time, the Bronx has the largest number of confirmed lead pipes (21% of all pipelines in the area definitely contain lead, and another 21% potentially contain it). Staten Island had a below average proportion of lead lines at the borough level (39%), but the Port Richmond borough, located on the North Shore, had the highest proportion of lead lines (61% of its pipes are estimated to contain lead).
You can read the full text of the report here.
Read more NY daily news online on our portal.
