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Biden administration announces plan to replace 100% of lead pipes in US homes
The Biden administration on Thursday announced a "whole of government strategy" to remove dangerous lead from Americans' drinking water, including billions of dollars to begin replacing 100% of the lead pipes servicing the nation's homes.
Environmental groups praised the plan, which includes a promise to begin the process of strengthening the nation's drinking water standards to reflect the science showing that lead is toxic for children at any level.
But lawyers at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which has been leading efforts to fight lead, said they worry that the plan lacks a solid timeline and fails to deliver enforceable requirements.
The set of actions announced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) included the release of the first $2.9bn of $15bn approved in Biden's infrastructure plan for local water agencies to begin replacing lead pipes and called for the efforts to focus on the low-income communities who face the most risk of lead poisoning. It also listed 15 new actions across 10 federal agencies to address lead dangers from both water and paint.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by srobert on Friday December 17 2021, @10:36PM (15 children)
I was a plumber when they were still making solder with lead content that was frequently used on pipes that carried drinking water. We were supposed to use the tin-antimony solder, but I'm sure that some of my colleagues got them mixed up, since I nearly did so myself on several occasions.
Interesting fun fact on the etymology of "plumber" and "plumbing". They come from the Latin "plumb", meaning lead. Notice the chemical symbol for lead is Pb. The Roman empire may have suffered through a period when many of it's leadership had succumbed to lead poisoning because of the use of lead pipes in the homes of wealthy Romans. Maybe it's not so bad for modern America because lead pipes are only in the homes of plebeians.
Whenever we want to build another aircraft carrier no body says, "How you gonna pay for that?". Maybe a better question is "How are we gonna pay for failing to replace lead pipes in homes?".
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 17 2021, @11:33PM (6 children)
The same way we paid for clean water, sewage, environmental protection, medicare, work safety, etc.
Or is fixing lead pipes just TOO big?
(Score: 3, Funny) by driverless on Saturday December 18 2021, @01:45PM (5 children)
Well, for one thing getting rid of lead pipes would lead to a huge drop in Fox viewership.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 18 2021, @04:12PM (4 children)
Did you mean CNN commentators?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 18 2021, @08:58PM (2 children)
For real, why does CNN even host Republican traitors at this point?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 18 2021, @09:26PM
Because having R-party corporate anus sniffers helps balance out the D-party corporate cock suckers. It's good for credibility.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 19 2021, @04:20AM
They keep on firing the Democratic pedos.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 19 2021, @06:20PM
Honestly, both, they're both more or less jobs programs for the criminally incompetent.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Username on Saturday December 18 2021, @12:42AM (3 children)
The question is, why does this require federal money and federal contractors? The feds should just be protecting the country from foreign invasion, negotiating with other countries, and ensuring interstate travel and commerce. Why are they replacing pipes on the house down the street? Overreach much? Why isn't the city doing that? Why isn't the state doing that?
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 18 2021, @01:10AM
Funny how federal corruption is surpassed only by state/local corruption. Leave the states to themselves and we'll repeat the first half of the 1860s...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by mcgrew on Saturday December 18 2021, @09:38PM (1 child)
For the same reason President Eisenhower championed the Interstate Highway System. Or are you against that, too? I swear, if Democrats came out for a stronger second amendment you Republicans would try to repeal that amendment.
Carbon, The only element in the known universe to ever gain sentience
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 19 2021, @11:33PM
Did you see what happened when Reagan was governor in California and the group with the highest purchases per capita was Black Americans? Even the NRA lobbied for gun control then.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 18 2021, @04:27AM
We don't.
??
(Score: 4, Informative) by bzipitidoo on Saturday December 18 2021, @05:29AM (2 children)
Lead is such an exasperating problem. Is it so costly to avoid lead? NO! One way is to use bismuth brass. Do we doubt that lead is unhealthy? NO! The Romans actually figured that out, but kept using it. And here we are, in America 2000 years later, still using lead. Why? To save a few cents up front, careless of the costs down the road. Manufacturers' tooling lasts longer because the lead makes the brass softer. Hell of a reason to poison everyone. The costs are far greater than the savings. Lead poisoning makes people stupider and more violent. The Europeans are smarter.
The Romans used lead all over the place, not just in plumbing. They lined their pots with lead based glaze. The upper class even sprinkled lead salts in their wine, to sweeten it.
Brass can be up to 8% lead. In 2014, standards were tightened greatly, reducing the maximum allowed lead content of brass to 0.25%. But, there's a huge loophole. The new standard only applies to faucets for "drinking water". Only the kitchen and bathroom sinks are covered. Bathtubs, showers, and exterior faucets are NOT. When we needed a new bathtub faucet, I tried to find one that conformed to the new 0.25% standard. There were none. I called a dozen manufacturers, and none of them, not even the luxury ones, offered a low lead bathtub faucet. I thought that since they had to do it for sinks, it would be no big deal to offer the same for tubs, for customers who wanted that.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Saturday December 18 2021, @07:17AM
I haven't searched online, but I'd guess CA would have tighter standards, or Canada (CSA), maybe get one that's approved there?
Is RoHS used to qualify plumbing?
How about stainless steel parts?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 18 2021, @12:46PM