Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Getting the lead out of Pittsburgh means addressing lead poisoning that comes from all sources: water, dust, soil and paint.
Pittsburgh’s focus until now has been for the Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority to replace lead service lines. But this is not enough. With Pittsburgh’s old housing stock (built before 1978) and infrastructure being full of lead hazards, huge segments of our population are vulnerable to lead exposure and large numbers of children are subjected to lead poisoning every year. It is a tragedy that we can stop in its tracks.
Thanks to City Council members Erika Strassburger, Corey O’Connor, Bobby Wilson and Deb Gross, as well as Mayor Bill Peduto, and with the introduction of the Pittsburgh Lead Safety Law, today’s high levels of childhood lead poisoning are about to change.
Lead is a poisonous metal and can affect almost every organ in the body, as well as the nervous system. Children under age 6 absorb more lead than adults, and because their brains and nervous systems are still developing, they are highly susceptible to the permanent harm that comes with lead poisoning.
That’s why Clean Water Action supports this ordinance and calls upon the remaining City Council members to vote for a lead-safe Pittsburgh on behalf of our children. They deserve that future.
