There's Something in the Water
Slate News
Slate Podcasts
4.5 • 6K Ratings
🗓️ 4 September 2019
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When Christopher Werth saw some paint chips falling off a radiator in his daughter’s New York City classroom, he picked one up and sent it to get tested. The results spurred him to launch a larger investigation into lead exposure in New York City classrooms.
Just across the river in Newark, New Jersey, another city is dealing with its own lead troubles. Elevated levels of the metal have been found in the city’s drinking water.
What do these two cases tell us about the legacy of lead in America? And what can be done about it?
Guest: Christopher Werth, Senior Editor at WNYC
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | If you live in Newark, New Jersey, your home has become this little blue dot on an online map maintained by the city. |
| 0:13.7 | Click on your dot and the infrastructure beneath your house is revealed where your water comes from and whether that water might have lead in it. |
| 0:23.5 | Newark's water crisis is boiling over |
| 0:25.7 | as residents demand mayor... |
| 0:27.2 | The water system there has been showing |
| 0:29.4 | dangerous levels of lead. |
| 0:31.8 | Worried and angry about lead contamination, |
| 0:34.4 | residents of Newark, New Jersey |
| 0:35.6 | are demanding bottled water and answers. |
| 0:38.3 | You know that the water's going to be messed up for all of this time. Why wouldn't we, |
| 0:42.9 | why wasn't we told? |
| 0:47.9 | Christopher Worth reports for a podcast called The Stakes. He spent the last year investigating lead |
| 0:53.9 | contamination. 10% of the last year investigating lead contamination. |
| 0:55.2 | 10% of the outlets that are being tested in Newark are above 55 to 60 parts per billion. |
| 1:02.5 | And the federal standard is 15 parts per billion. So we're talking about several times larger |
| 1:09.6 | than the federal limit. |
| 1:11.2 | And how does that compare to a place like Flint? |
| 1:13.6 | This is much higher. |
| 1:14.9 | You know, we're talking about in Newark four times the federal limit. |
| 1:17.8 | And there are a lot of questions about how robust that federal limit is anyway. |
| 1:22.8 | Christopher says the problem with uncovering lead like this is that once it's revealed, you can start to see it everywhere, not just in the pipes underneath Newark's houses, but in the water fountain at the local playground, in the chipped paint on your windowsill, and in the soil at the local dog park. |
| 1:42.5 | At least, that's the way it was for him. I got curious about my own house because I live in an old, you know, I think it was built in the 1880s. And I thought it was at that time before I started reporting on lead, I thought your kids were safe. You know, I have two small kids. And I thought your kids were safe as long as they weren't eating the lead paint chips. That was my, |
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