최근 여름철 일부 가정에서 높은 수준의 납이 검출된 사실이 알려진 후 오하이오주 지역 마을 주민들이 EPA에 해명을 요구하고 있다. 약 8천100명의 주민들이 거주하는 오하이오주 영스타운의 공업지대(Rust Belt) 인근 거주지역에서 지난 여름동안 정기 수도검사를 진행한 결과 20가구 중 7가구 꼴로 물에서 매우 높은 수준의 납이 검출됐다.

오하이오 환경보호청은 세브링(Sebring)시 및 두 곳의 마을에 수도를 담당하는 지역상수도 관리자 James Bates이 60일 이내에 이 사실을 공공에 알리지 않았다고 지적했으나 그는 혐의를 부인했다.

 

 

 

After only recently learning that high levels of lead were detected in some homes over the summer, residents in a rural Ohio town are asking the EPA for answers.

 

About 8,100 people live near the Rust Belt city of Youngstown, and over the summer, seven of 20 homes where the water is routinely tested showed excessive levels of lead. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency said the manager of the small water system, James Bates, that supplies Sebring and two other villages failed to notify the public within the required 60 days, but he denied the allegations.

 

State regulators said they believe the contamination was triggered by water that for some reason had become too corrosive and caused lead pipes leading into homes to leach heavy metal into the drinking water.

 

Regulators asked the water plant to treat the water following the findings. The most recent round of testing at the homes that had elevated lead over the summer showed that only one had detectable levels, according to Ohio EPA spokeswoman Heidi Griesmer.

 

[출처 = Water World / 2016년 1월 26일]