Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Biden Administration Announces Plan to Replace 100% of Lead Pipes in U.S. Homes

posted by martyb on Friday December 17 2021, @10:11PM   Printer-friendly
from the get-the-lead-out dept.

takyon writes:

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.

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Biden Administration Announces Plan to Replace 100% of Lead Pipes in U.S. Homes | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 121 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 2) by zocalo on Saturday December 18 2021, @09:08AM (1 child)

    by zocalo (302) on Saturday December 18 2021, @09:08AM (#1206108)
    That was my first reaction too. Even the Romans figured out that lead was somehow bad for your health, and while lead might be easy to work due its malleability, the ancient Egyptians were using copper pipes so there's no excuse on that front either (especially if you mix in a little bismuth with the copper), so this has to have been a penny-pinching cost decision. OK, fine. Maybe money was tight for many when a lot of this was plumbed in, but the US has been the world's number #1 economy for decades - WTF is the stuff still doing in the ground and walls?

    FWIW, my second reaction was, "Wait! Doesn't lead poisoning make people dumber and more violent? Come to think of it, that probably explains a few things..."
    --
    UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
    Total Score:   2  

  • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Saturday December 18 2021, @09:42PM

    by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Saturday December 18 2021, @09:42PM (#1206233) Homepage Journal

    Well, for millionaires to become billionaires, someone has to suffer.

    --
    Carbon, The only element in the known universe to ever gain sentience