LEAD TAINTS SCHOOL WATER

Lead taints school water  is a front page headline in today's Times Union. We read that six Albany city elementary schools have elevated lead levels in the drinking water. The school district has shut down water fountains and begun replacing fixtures.

Lead is a neuro toxin. Exposure to low levels, over time, can cause low IQ, attention deficit disorder (ADD) and poor school performance. Exposure to high levels of lead can cause brain, red blood cell and kidney damage.

Is it possible that the elevated lead levels in drinking water extends to those homes and buildings which were required to have lead connector lines to the water mains, by the ruling political party?

Should the city , county and state health departments, and EPA conduct city wide water testing to determine if  those homes and buildings, with lead connector lines, have excessive lead levels, and to what extent this has caused long term cognitive  health  and behavioral problems for the residents.

If this is found to be the case, perhaps, this could, partly. explain a host of local problems, including poor school performance, an increasing violent crime rate, and a variety of political behaviors, including blind party line voting and an ever declining voter turn out in elections.

If there is a citywide problem of lead contamination in the drinking water supply, perhaps the millions to be spent on dredging PCB's from the Hudson River sediments, might better be spent on getting the lead out of the city water supply.

                                                                                    J P Sullivan