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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.

2016 LCR reduced size

 

 

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.