Bill funds removing lead from U.S. water

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The lead-tainted water in the District resulted in the introduction yesterday of legislation to remove lead from water lines throughout the nation.

The Lead-free Drinking Water Act of 2004 was introduced in the House of Representatives by D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat, and in the U.S. Senate by Sens. James M. Jeffords, Vermont independent, and Paul S. Sarbanes, Maryland Democrat.

If Congress approves the bill, $200 million will be appropriated every year for four years to help replace lead-contaminated water lines throughout the nation, with $40 million going to the District, where an estimated 23,000 homes have been found to have lead in the tap water.

"This is not just a District of Columbia bill," Mrs. Norton said. "There is a crisis existing in every state."

Mr. Jeffords said, "I was horrified when we first saw the lead levels in the D.C. water was significantly higher than the federal guidelines, because if it can happen in D.C., it can happen anywhere."

Mr. Sarbanes said too much lead in drinking water injures babies, children and pregnant women most seriously.

"Lead poisoning is one of our most serious but most preventable -- I repeat, most preventable -- dangers to the children."

The proposed law "puts the emphasis on testing and protecting children and pregnant women," he said.

Mrs. Norton said the D.C. experience is a "virtual case study" for defining regulations for the proposed law. It would require more widespread testing, notice to individuals about high lead levels and total, instead of partial, replacement of all lead-contaminating service lines.

"Our hearings showed that partial replacement can actually increase the amount of lead in drinking water," Mrs. Norton said, "because the new metal, such as brass or copper, can interact with the remaining lead pipe and accelerate lead leaching into the drinking water."

The D.C. Water and Sewer Authority had issued warnings of high lead levels, but the warnings were on leaflets sent out with bills to customers.

The proposed law could result in spending $500 billion in 20 years to restructure the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act and the 1991 amendments.

Co-sponsors of the bill include Rep. James P. Moran, Virginia Democrat; Albert R. Wynn, Maryland Democrat; Chaka Fattah, Pennsylvania Democrat; Edward J. Markey, Massachusetts Democrat; and Hilda L. Solis and Henry A. Waxman, California Democrats.

Mr. Waxman said he opposed the amendments 13 years ago and criticized the Environmental Protection Agency for inadequate awareness of impending dangers.

"I don't think the EPA knows how big a problem this is around the United States," he said.