Flint Redux

Reposted From The Huffington Post

The people of Flint and the thousands of other cities who have water contaminated by lead are between a rock and a hard place. For some, there is the short-term solution of adding chemicals to the water that will retard the lead corrosion. But the long-term solution is to replace the lead pipes with safe ones. It is going to cost millions, if not billions, for sewer utilities to replace the lead pipes in the right-of-ways in each community. But, even if they do, what about the lead in the pipes that go from the street to the meter? What about the lead in the pipes in the bathroom and the kitchen? Who’s going to replace those lead pipes?

The pipes under the street are the property of the local water authority. They are public property. But the pipes that go from the street to the house, and the pipes in the house, are private property. The water authority can’t just barge into a private home and start banging away on the pipes. So what are homeowners going to do? How are they going to protect their families from lead poisoning.

There are four options.  (continue reading)