Syracuse Fails to Show Drinking Water is Safe from Lead

WASHINGTON - In yet another attempt to avoid responsibility for the lead-contaminated water flowing to taps in Syracuse, N.Y., the city government announced yesterday that it suspended two water department employees for misconduct in the lead-testing program, implying falsely that this resolves questions about high-levels of lead in the water.

Community groups have worked with NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) to highlightthe extraordinarily high levels of lead in the drinking water and have called on the city to declare an emergency, and the state and federal officials to get involved to solve the crisis. There is no safe level of lead in drinking water.

The following is a comment from Valerie Baron, senior attorney at NRDC:

"The people of Syracuse need to know their water is safe to drink, but nothing released by city leaders yesterday should give them any confidence that is the case. Just the opposite.

"Identifying misconduct by city employees is a step in the right direction, but that doesn't explain why lead levels in the water were so extraordinarily high. There is no reason to think water from a hose spigot will contain less lead than a kitchen or bathroom sink. Declaring 'all clear' based on these developments is irresponsible.

"The city needs to follow the law and the science, provide at-the-tap-filters, and declare a state of emergency. Nothing less will do."

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million membersand online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, lawand people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).