Allegheny County controller says health dept. must do more to address lead in water

PITTSBURGH — Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner said Monday that the Allegheny County Health Department needs to do more to address elevated lead levels in local water systems.

"It's certainly not a stretch to say we have a drinking water crisis here in Pittsburgh,” she said.

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An audit conducted by her office found that the ACHD has not prioritized responding to local concerns about elevated lead levels in public water.

Wagner said the ACHD has assumed primary oversight of the 36 water systems operating in the county by verbal agreement with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. She called on the ACHD to secure a written agreement.

"Allegheny County residents are fortunate to have an additional layer of oversight in the health department, but our review shows that it is not meeting its potential," Wagner said.

She also called on the ACHD to step up its efforts to monitor local water providers.

The audit noted that while the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority’s lead levels did not reach the federal action level until this year's testing, past results were within a fraction of a percent of triggering action, and other local water providers have reported results approaching this level with no requirement to notify consumers.

Channel 11 News has been looking into the rise of lead levels for months, which date back to 2007 when PWSA testing showed 9 parts per billion of lead in the water. In 2010, it was 10.3. Three years later, it jumped to 14.8, a fraction below when state and federal agencies take action. The audit shows lead levels spiked this past summer, with some area reaching 22 parts per billion.

Wagner said the ACHD should be bolstering the water and sewer agency's efforts to test concerned customers' water, and the type of community education efforts conducted by the ACHD on a variety of public health issues are needed to educate the community about the risk of lead in public water.

Wagner also said that a Health Department inspection failed to identify the PWSA switching to a corrosion control chemical that was not approved in its permit, a violation for which it was later cited by the Department of Environmental Protection.

The director of the ACHD responded Monday with a news conference of her own.

"We are not an autonomous enforcement agency when it comes to water,” Dr. Karen Hacker said.

Hacker said that while lead in water needs to be examined, the majority of lead exposure the department sees is with lead paint in older homes.

"I think it's an area where we need to be examining it more. Do I think it rises to the same level as the concern I have around paint? No,” she said.

Hacker said the safety of children is the health department’s top concern.

"Understanding what's going on with our children is our most important concern,” she said.

Hacker told Channel 11 News that while lead levels in water are being monitored, the health department’s lead-exposures tests in children tell a different story.

“The number of children with lead toxicity is going down. We do not have a situation where we've seen an uptick in that,” she said.

The health department is currently pushing to make it mandatory for all children in Allegheny County to be tested for lead-exposure before they turn 2. The proposal will be presented to the Board of Health next month.

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