Lead in water concerns warranted

T

his ain’t no Flint, Michigan, but the City of Prince George has to be concerned about the amount of lead showing up in the city’s drinking water.

Last year, five local schools were found to have lead in their drinking water and School District 57 quickly took steps to address the problem. Children are particularly vulnerable to lead poisoning because even exposure to small amounts can cause permanent brain damage.

Now a recent investigation by city staff has uncovered high levels of lead in the drinking water at 13 of 24 civic facilities tested. Of particular concern are the local arenas, which all made the list, because of the amount of children that frequent those facilities for figure skating, speed skating, ringette and hockey.

Although the public water fountains all passed the safety tests, some of the sink faucets in those facilities didn’t.

Running the water for 30 seconds flushed the pipes and took care of the situation, which is good, but that shouldn’t diminish ongoing government vigilance or concern from local residents.

What happened in Flint was a disgrace, particularly in the richest country in the world.

A struggling manufacturing community, looking to cut costs and save money on providing local services, made changes to the source and treatment of drinking water.

More than 100,000 residents drank leadpolluted water at toxic levels for as long as two years, while government officials denied there was a problem, covered up damning water quality reports and publicly ridiculed bureaucrats, scientists and resi- dents speaking up about the issue.

Criminal charges were eventually filed and lawsuits remain before the court.

Again, Prince George isn’t Flint but, based on the school tests last year and the civic facilities testing this year, further analysis may be required to make sure the drinking water supply in homes and private buildings is safe.

When it comes to keeping lead out of drinking water, excessive oversight – and significant spending if necessary – is far better than the horrible alternative.

— Editor-in-chief Neil Godbout