27 November 2023 , 01:06
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A chilling map revealed tap water pollution levels across the country after US President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency over the dangerously high levels of lead found in Us Virgin Islands tap water
In response to tests on St. Croix that indicated levels of lead in water more than 100 times over the EPA's limit—among the worst outcomes a U.S. town has seen in decades—US President Joe Biden declared an emergency over lead-in-water poisoning in the US Virgin Islands.
“On a personal level, it’s been frightening and frustrating,” said resident Frandelle Gerard, executive director of Crucian Heritage and Nature Tourism, Inc. Residents were instructed to stop using their taps, and coupons for bottled water were distributed by officials. Lead exposure may have a terrible impact on a child's IQ, behavior, and development.
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The US Virgin Islands had the worst results seen in decades (NRDC)However, experts noted that because the alarming results were derived from tests that did not adhere to EPA regulations, they might not be true.
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Marc Edwards, a lead and water specialist from Virginia Tech who contributed to the discovery of Flint, Michigan's lead issues, said the results should be "thrown into the garbage." Residents of St. Croix will not be the first to encounter this if the information provided turns out to be false. Inaccurate information frequently afflicts communities, many of which are majority-Black neighborhoods experiencing a lead crisis, leaving residents confused of whom to trust, according to the Associated Press.
US President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency (Getty Images)High levels of lead were first kept a secret by Flint officials. Though lead pipes are typically the issue rather than the source, officials in Newark stressed the safety of the city's reservoirs when levels increased. Residents of Benton Harbor, Michigan, had to rely on bottled water as they waited months for officials to ensure that filters genuinely function.
On the Caribbean island of St. Croix, authorities swiftly informed locals of the results and managed to avoid some of those problems. An emergency was proclaimed by the governor. According to Marc, there is an issue with how the samples were obtained and the extremely high findings do not accurately reflect reality.
Workers typically use water from a domestic faucet to test for lead. However, the samples taken from the meter were the ones that tested so high on St. Croix. “When you unscrew it, you are literally ripping the leaded-brass apart and a chunk of leaded-brass gets in your sample,” he said.
Experts claim the results were tainted (NRDC)The Environmental Defense Fund's primary expert on chemicals, Tom Neltner, concurred that the water meter's testing isn't reliable. He said that there were "a lot of oddities" in the way St. Croix's sample was carried out.
Thus, parents in St. Croix are still unaware of the amount of lead their children were exposed to. In September, authorities conducted tests at faucets in accordance with EPA lead testing guidelines. These findings concluded the water was safe.