An exclusive investigation by the Guardian newspaper shows that "massive manipulation" of testing methods of public water supply for lead has found that in 33 cities across 17 states. All of the cities cited have used testing methods that covered up high levels of lead in city water supplies -- just like what happened in Flint, Michigan.
Might the Chicago Public Schools also be covering up lead test results prior to May 2016? How? Chicago schools' officials are obstructing Freedom of Information requests for testing documents, and instead of having staff assigned to do these important jobs, CPS has apparently outsourced the work.
Substance News is conducting its own investigation of the Chicago Public Schools for lead testing fraud and manipulation. Our first story, posted June 1, 2016, uncovered $34 million in safety contractor spending, supposedly with no lead water lead testing done prior to May 2016. See story at www.substancenews.net/…
Just as in Michigan, government privatization schemes in Chicago may have left the city's most vulnerable children in danger of lead exposure in public buildings. Prior to the beginnings of privatization during the 1990s, Chicago public school engineers and trained staff in the central office were responsible for monitoring certain problems. Central office staff compiled records on those problems, which we reported as early as 30 years ago in Substance.
Marc Edwards, the scientist who first uncovered the crisis in Flint, described water testing in some of America's largest cities as an "outrage". "They make lead in water low when collecting samples for EPA compliance, even as it poisons kids who drink the water," Edwards, a Virginia Tech scientist, said. "Clearly, the cheating and lax enforcement are needlessly harming children all over the United States. "If they cannot be trusted to protect little kids from lead in drinking water, what on Earth can they be trusted with? Who amongst us is safe?"
Two of the biggest problems have always been lead and asbestos. With some school buildings in Chicago more than 100 years old, environmental monitoring is an ongoing necessity.
Yet beginning with the administration of the school system's first "Chief Executive Officer", Paul G. Vallas, and continuing under Vallas's successor Arne Duncan and since, CPS has apparently undermined the testing and enforcement of "environmental standards" by privatizing the work.
The Chicago Teachers Union has had staff assigned to deal with school security and safety issues through recent years. "Security" meant gangs and violence in the schools. "Safety" means environmental challenges, from lead and asbestos to other problems.
Below is an excerpt of the Guardian article on lead testing fraud in Chicago and other cities in the United States.
At least 33 US cities used water testing 'cheats' over lead concerns
The Guardian, by Oliver Milman and Jessica Glenza, Thursday 2 June 2016 07.03 EDT
Exclusive: Guardian investigation reveals testing regimes similar to that of Flint were in place in major cities including Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia...
At least 33 cities across 17 US states have used water testing “cheats” that potentially conceal dangerous levels of lead, a Guardian investigation launched in the wake of the toxic water crisis in Flint, Michigan, has found. Of these cities, 21 used the same water testing methods that prompted criminal charges against three government employees in Flint over their role in one of the worst public health disasters in US history.
The crisis that gripped Flint is an extreme case where a cost-cutting decision to divert the city’s water supply to a polluted river was compounded by a poor testing regime and delays by environmental officials to respond to the health emergency.
The Guardian investigation concerned thousands of documents detailing water testing practices over the past decade.
They reveal:
- Despite warnings of regulators and experts, water departments in at least 33 cities used testing methods over the past decade that could underestimate lead found in drinking water.
- Officials in two major cities – Philadelphia and Chicago – asked employees to test water safety in their own homes.
- Two states – Michigan and New Hampshire – advised water departments to give themselves extra time to complete tests so that if lead contamination exceeded federal limits, officials could re-sample and remove results with high lead levels.
- Some cities denied knowledge of the locations of lead pipes, failed to sample the required number of homes with lead plumbing or refused to release lead pipe maps, claiming it was a security risk.
continue to the full story @
www.theguardian.com/...