Please note that flushing your faucets won’t remove lead. You need a filter that is certified by NSF to remove lead. You may still have lead in your water after the SWB replaces the lead service lines in the streets because of the lead service lines on your property that SWB refuses to replace. You can join our coalition to get SWB to do complete replacement of all lead service lines by calling 800-239-7379 or emailing director@southernunitedneighborhoods.org
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Featuring Environmental Attorney Shawn “Pepper” Bowen Roussel & Dr. Adrienne Katner from LSU HSC
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android
Featuring Environmental Attorney Shawn “Pepper” Bowen Roussel & Dr. Adrienne Katner from LSU HSC.
A 2017 Inspector General Report on the faulty lead testing practices by the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans was given to the State Health Department. Members of the Louisiana Roundtable for the Environment requested the background documents that was the basis of the OIG report.
This is their response to the FOIA request.
Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans released some information pertaining to the public records request submitted by A Community Voice on behalf of the Louisiana Roundtable for the Environment.
SWB released information on where lead issues have been identified and where some partial lead service lines have been replaced. Areas that have received partial lead service line replacements will have higher spikes in lead in their water.
Here are copies of the information released:
Sewerage & Water Lead Issues Identified August 2017- August 2019
Potential Partial Lead Service Line Replacements August 2017-August 2019
LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health is enrolling homes in a study to test water filters in New Orleans. There are only a few spots left.
Researchers will evaluate the effectiveness of faucet-mount water filters in reducing exposures to lead in tap water. Participants will receive free water filters which they can keep, free water testing and free replacement cartridges. The filters are <$40/year to maintain and are certified to remove water contaminants to regulatory standards.
Adrienne Katner, DEnv, Assistant Professor and colleagues from Virginia Tech have been funded by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to test certified water filters. The team is targeting homes which have recently had their water service line (or whip) removed or repaired. Integrated faucets (faucets with hoses) are not eligible – there must be a removable aerator filter at the tip of the faucet.
“Lead in drinking water is typically associated with the presence of lead service lines which can be found in older homes built prior to 1986, the year when lead service lines were banned,” notes Katner.
Dr. Katner is installing filters which performed the best under laboratory conditions. These filters are also easy to install, will alert users when the cartridges need to be replaced, and are cheap to maintain ($8 for replacement cartridges). They must have had a recent line replacement or repair, and be willing to collect samples for the team twice per week throughout the lifetime of the first filter cartridge (~3 months). Samples will be collected by the team for analysis. Results are confidential and are provided to the homeowner only.
“We are also surveying residents about their knowledge of lead and water filters and about barriers they’ve encountered that might prevent them from adopting and appropriately maintaining water filters,” adds Katner.
Project partners also include community partners Beth Butler and Marie Hurt of A Community Voice (ACV) and Southern United Neighborhoods (SUN), who are overseeing community outreach in New Orleans and among non-English speaking Latin American and Hispanic communities.
“The results of this project will be used to inform health officials on the efficacy of water filters to reduce lead exposures under varying conditions,” Katner concludes. “Results will also shed light on approaches for overcoming knowledge, behavior and access barriers to water filter adoption in hard to reach rural and non-English speaking communities.”
If interested, please contact Dr. Adrienne Katner at 504-568-5942 or Aubrey Gilliland at 504-568-5949 or agill4@lsuhsc.edu.
Children in New Orleans have Blood Lead Levels of more than 3 times those in Flint, Michigan.
The Louisiana Roundtable for the Environment is working on implementing policy around:
If you are a concerned about
Join us and make your voice heard.
Meetings Every Last Weds of the Month
5:30pm
2221 St. Claude Avenue (at Elysian Fields)
Join the Roundtable and get involved in ending Lead Poisoning in New Orleans. Sign up Form at southernunitedneighborhoods.org or email director@southernunitedneighborhoods.org to join up yourself, your group, or your small business. 800-239-7379
Children in New Orleans have blood-lead levels three times higher than children in Flint, Michigan. Lead in New Orleans drinking water is a crisis in our city with aging water pipes and the slow replacement of lead service lines. This grant will support our local efforts to build capacity and advance evidence-based lead poisoning prevention efforts through policy and systems change.
SUN was recently awarded one of nine 2019 Lead Poisoning Prevention Grants as part of the National Center for Healthy Housing’s Equipping Communities for Action initiative. As one of the selected awardees under this initiative, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation with additional support from The New York Community Trust, SUN will receive 18 months of coaching and support including access to national experts, engagement in a peer learning network, a customized analysis calculating the cost of childhood lead exposure and the economic benefits of interventions, and a $25,000 grant.
Partners supporting the initiative and enhancing guidance related to legal strategies, community leader engagement, cost analysis, and specific point sources of lead include representatives from Altarum, ChangeLab Solutions, Earthjustice, Environmental Defense Fund, and the National League of Cities.
The bundled award will help further our mission of eliminating childhood lead poisoning.
SUN works with the Louisiana Roundtable for the Environment to recommend policies around interventions for lead poisoning prevention. Current efforts include education and outreach around lead in our drinking water, contractor and homeowner education on safe lead work practices, social services to help support lead poisoned children and training residents in how to identify lead hazards in their home.
If you would like to join the Louisiana Roundtable for the Environment and participate in our efforts, please email director@southernunitedneighborhoods.org
Learn more about NCHH’s Equipping Communities for Action initiative and the 2019 Lead Poisoning Prevention Grant recipients. http://bit.ly/EquippingGrantees2019
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Southern United Neighborhoods (SUN) is a 501c3 public charity founded in March 2010 by low to moderate income people that uses research and training to combat the poverty, discrimination and community deterioration that keeps low income people from taking advantage of their rights and opportunities.
About the National Center for Healthy Housing:
The National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH) is the preeminent national nonprofit dedicated to securing healthy homes for all. Since 1992, NCHH has served as a highly regarded and credible change agent, successfully integrating healthy housing advocacy, research, and capacity building under one roof to reduce health disparities nationwide. Follow NCHH on Twitter (@nchh) or LinkedIn or become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HealthyHousing.
Join us at the A Community Voice Housing & Community Fair on Sat October 27th for FREE information and workshop on Lead Poisoning Prevention. Did you know that only about 23% of all kids under the age of 6 get their blood lead levels tested in Calcasieu Parish, even though universal testing is the law in Louisiana?
Find out what the sources of lead are in your home, community, school and work, what lead does to your body, and what you can do to eliminate exposures to lead hazards.
Remember that there are no safe levels of lead exposure!
Additional information on Lead Poisoning Prevention Week!
Helpful Guide to Checking Your Home for Lead Hazards – Form will walk you through what to look for as the main hazardous. If you would like help with reducing lead hazards in your home, please submit the online form.
Printable Version of Online Lead Assessment
Guidelines for Testing Children
Mardi Gras beads contain high levels of lead that far exceed all known safety standards – standards that are in themselves too low as experts admit there is no safe level of lead exposure. Children who touch Mardi Gras beads will have their hands coated with a fine dust of lead, even though it will not be visible to the naked eye. Beads that are thrown on the ground will poison the soil. This dirt is tracked into the home, spreading even more lead. Pets that play in the dirt and with beads will also be exposed to higher amounts of lead. Lead can kill our pets. In children, Lead Poisoning causes lifelong problems such as brain damage, learning disabilities, aggressive behavior, and damage to all organs of the body.
This Mardi Gras season, follow these safety tips:
Mardi Gras beads also often contain other toxins such as flame retardants & arsenic.
Unfortunately, the only way to prevent exposure to lead poisoning and other toxins from Mardi Gras beads is to avoid them all together.
Regulations on the safety of Mardi Gras beads need to be strengthen to ban such toxic products from use.
Who will be responsible for changing out all the lead service lines in the city once the water board goes private? How much is privatization going to cost us?
Join us at the Justice and Beyond Town Hall Meeting on the the Sewerage and Water Board
Ask you questions!
Tuesday November 14, 5:30pm
Location: Christian Unity Baptist Church 1700 Conti Street, New Orleans, LA
