Rev. Welch warned PWSA about risks
Sometimes, it pays to listen to people who have practical experience in a given field—even when they are political opponents.
During his mayoral campaign against Mayor Bill Peduto, Rev. John Welch—who in earlier life had earned an environmental engineering degree—warned that the city’s plan to reduce unsafe lead levels in the water supply was flawed and could make the problem worse.
On June 2, the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority announced it was halting its partial line replacement project after it had found even higher lead levels in residential tests done after it had replaced the public supply lines that connect to the property owners’ supply lines.
“The PWSA has followed requirements to replace lead lines, but the matter is threatening to become dangerous to our residents,” Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said in an accompanying press announcement. “We need to halt this replacement program until we have an understanding with the PADEP (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection) on how to properly and safely address this problem.”
Welch had urged installing point-of-entry (POE) filter systems at all affected buildings. While expensive, they would cost roughly a quarter of the $400 million needed to complete the partial line replacement program the city approved after meeting with the state DEP.
“During my mayoral campaign, I consistently challenged PWSA’s strategy regarding partial replacement of the service lines. However, my position was not taken seriously by the Peduto Administration nor PWSA. Now, they realize the risks of the partial replacement strategy,” Welch said in a June 5 statement, addressed to the Courier.
“The EPA-approved solution suggested during my candidacy was to install POE units in PWSA customer homes at an expense far less than the cost of replacing the service lines. This would have protected the homeowners from elevated lead levels once line replacements occurred. This administration instead chose to offer free water pitchers, which is an ineffective and negligent strategy.”
As the New Pittsburgh Courier previously reported, under a consent decree reached with the DEP and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the authority agreed to replace seven percent of its lead service lines per year. In March, it contracted with two firms, Frank J. Zottola Construction of Butler and Independent Enterprises of Oakdale, to replace 1,500 lead service lines by the end of June for nearly $4 million.
The work began May 3, and since then, the firms completed work at 81 locations. Of those, 49 had publicly-owned lead service lines which required replacement. After the work, homeowners at eight of those locations submitted water samples for additional testing–four of them showed lead levels exceeding the EPA’s allowable limit.
The EPA and the Centers for Disease Control both warned that partial replacement could allow lead to leech from existing pipes and into the water supply.
Peduto said in his statement that the city knows what the problems are.
“We are looking to work with every partner to fix them,” he said. “We have to solve them safely, however,” Peduto said in his statement.
Welch said in his statement he was pleased to see the city take action.
“Halting the project is late in the making, but commended nonetheless,” he said. “I would urge PWSA and the Peduto administration to once again consider installing POE units in the homes ahead of service line replacements to make sure safe drinking water continues to be delivered in accordance with the Safe Drinking Water Act.”
Welch added, “This is no time for shortcuts.”
Like us at https://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Pittsburgh-Courier/143866755628836?ref=hl
Follow @NewPghCourier on Twitter https://twitter.com/NewPghCourier