PHOTO/ROBERT MIRANDA
MILWAUKEE, WI — For three years, Mayor Barrett of Milwaukee has resisted any attempt by the Freshwater for Life Action Coalition (FLAC) to highlight lead in water playing a major role in the elevated blood lead levels of Milwaukee’s children.
In 2015, during his Mayoral campaign, Barrett insisted that Milwaukee’s water was completely safe. In 2016, he conceded to pressure and put out a call to the public to use filters. In 2017, the mayor’s Health Department fought tooth and nail to prevent passage of the “Lead Transparency” resolution that was ultimately passed by the Common Council that year. In 2018, the Mayor and attorney Peter Earle are now trying to get the public to think that the lead paint industry has initiated a campaign to shift public concerns away from lead paint as the primary cause for elevated blood lead levels in Milwaukee children. In fact, the former chief of staff for the Mayor, Patrick Curley, released a public statement casting aspersions against FLAC as working secretly with the paint industry to do this.
What is the real issue? The most intriguing aspect of the lead in water issue in Milwaukee is the city’s long-standing decision to not test the water in homes with elevated blood lead levels. Why? By 2004, more studies were indicating that corrosion control treatment methods (for water pipes) were not adequate to stop the leaching of lead.
Dr. Marc Edwards of Virginia Tech said in 2016 that a 2006 Housing & Urban Development study indicated there was a problem in Milwaukee’s water supply with lead. Could it be that Mayor Barrett and Attorney Peter Earle are concerned that if water from lead service lines is determined to be a considerable source of the lead poisoning of Milwaukee’s children, that it could compromise an already settled $1.2 billion lawsuit payout by the paint manufacturers?
If water from lead service lines is scientifically tested, if elevated lead blood levels data are collected, and if lead in water is found to be a significant source of lead poisoning of children, then Barrett’s and Earle’s damages claim could be lowered significantly. This would not only reduce the amount of damages but would also impact Earle’s legal fees. It would also shift the blame of knowingly exposing Milwaukee’s children to lead poisoning on to their shoulders.
The actions by the Mayor and attorney Peter Earle may also explain why Earle recently filed a lawsuit against the lead paint manufacturers, charging them with attempting to create a “controversy” over contaminated water to avoid liability for lead paint, and casting more aspersions against FLAC as being a tool for the lead paint industry.
“Milwaukee historically has been a world leader in covering up water lead problems,” said Dr. Marc Edwards in 2016.
Not only is the cover-up continuing, but it seems that the Mayor has enlisted the services of attorney Peter Earle to add more obfuscation to the issue of lead in water as well.
Robert Miranda is Spokesperson for Freshwater for Life Action Coalition (FLAC).
