Milwaukee – Freshwater City, Milwaukee, was identified as one of 33 American cities an investigative report by The Guardian found to be deliberately concealing potentially dangerous levels of lead in drinking water.
Milwaukee was identified as “cheating’, as are Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Columbus.
The United Kingdom-based publication says it launched its investigation after the water crisis in Flint, Michigan.
The Guardian combed through “thousands of documents detailing water testing practices over the past decade” and said the cities used testing methods that go against US EPA guidelines.
These altered testing methods may lower the amount of lead detected in households, the report went on to say.
In 21 cities, including Milwaukee, water testers were instructed to “pre-flush” pipes before testing for lead.
In 7 cities, testers were asked to remove aerators from their spouts before running the water, which can reduce lead content.
In 23 cities, including Milwaukee, testers were told to run water slowly. This can cause less lead to come out of the pipes.
The Guardian asked 81 of the largest US cities east of the Mississippi for their water-testing documents before publishing their findings.
Recently, WTMJ-4 reported that Milwaukee city officials refuted the findings of the Guardian stating that water testing protocols were followed by Milwaukee and that EPA guidelines were followed.
City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works spokesperson stated during the WTMJ-4 report that EPA guidelines changed in February 2016 and that up until a few months ago, Milwaukee tested the water following EPA guidelines before the change was made.
Spokesman for the group, Freshwater for Life Action Coalition (FLAC), Robert Miranda stated that, “FLAC is concerned about the fact that Milwaukee is operating with water sample data collected under the guidelines before EPA changed them a few months ago. FLAC is seeking new data from the city giving lead water level reading based on the new EPA protocols, so that accurate water lead level data can be documented from homes with lead pipes”.
The FLAC coalition has meetings scheduled with the Commissioner of the Milwaukee Health Department, the president of the Milwaukee Common Council and is currently working on scheduling a meeting with Mayor Barrett.