Wednesday, March 10, 2004
By Reuters

WASHINGTON — Angry Washington residents filed suit this week against city authorities they said kept the public in the dark about excessive levels of poisonous lead in tap water in the nation's capital for more than two years.

The law firm representing the residents — two couples with infants whose tap water was found to contain as much as 30 times the acceptable level of lead in recent tests — said it also planned to file suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies.

Charles Patrizia, one of the lawyers at Washington law firm Paul, Hastings, Janofsky, & Walker working on the case, said the suits sought more than anything else to force authorities to supply alternate clean drinking water and clean up the lead.

If ingested in critical levels, whether through water, paint dust, or other means, lead can cause permanent brain damage to infants and young children. It can also be toxic to adults.

The lawsuit alleges the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority (WASA), which buys treated water for delivery to the capital, first discovered unacceptable levels of lead in 2001 but covered up the findings and failed to alert the public after tests in subsequent years confirmed the findings.

WASA board Chairman Glenn Gerstell told a congressional hearing last week the authority alerted the city Health Department and affected customers directly in 2002 and had since made numerous public announcements.

A spokesman for Washington Mayor Anthony Williams said no residents had yet been diagnosed with any lead-related health problems.

The spokesman also highlighted efforts to distribute water filters to residents even before the EPA ordered the city last week to provide alternative drinking water to affected residents within 30 days.

The headlines over the lead levels are a blow to Washington's local leaders, who have in recent years begun to shake a reputation for chaotic management and shoddy services.

Source: Reuters