DISTRICT WATER
WASA Is Fined for Improper Tests To Check Lead Content in Homes
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Thursday, August 24, 2006
The Environmental Protection Agency fined the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority $27,500 yesterday for violating a 2004 consent order designed to monitor and eliminate excessive levels of lead in the District's drinking water.
According to the complaint filed by the EPA, WASA officials were required to test water in homes with the highest risk for lead -- those with lead water pipes.
But of the 103 water samples that WASA submitted to the EPA for monitoring in July to December 2005, WASA included 12 tests from homes with low risk for lead, the EPA's complaint said.
The improper tests delayed the EPA's ability to validate WASA's contention that the amount of lead in the city's drinking water has been below federal limits for a full year, the federal agency said in a news release yesterday. In June, the EPA confirmed that the city's water had met federal requirements, after WASA presented additional tests.
"EPA is filing the administrative complaint to ensure the integrity of the reporting and data management for future compliance reports," said the EPA statement provided by Mid-Atlantic Region spokesman Roy Seneca.
WASA General Manager Jerry N. Johnson said that the agency would "aggressively and vigorously" appeal the penalty.
"WASA has gone beyond EPA requirements," Johnson said in a written statement. "Our priority has been to ensure water quality for the District."
The EPA began stricter oversight of WASA in February 2004, after media reports revealed excessive lead in the tap water in thousands of District homes. WASA agreed to replace thousands of lead service pipes and distribute free water filters. Engineers at the Washington Aqueduct treated the water with chemicals designed to coat the pipe and stem the leeching of lead, which the EPA has credited with fixing the problem.
D.C. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) said yesterday that she would summon WASA officials next week to explain their actions.
"If sampling is incompetently performed, how can residents be assured that WASA is proficient in assuring lead is not in the water?" Norton asked in a statement.
Johnson said that the 12 tests the EPA has questioned were conducted in a manner "consistent with federal regulations and the full knowledge and consent of the U.S. EPA."
