Written Testimony of Donald S. WelshAdministrator, Region IIIU.S. Environmental Protection AgencyBefore theCommittee on Government ReformU.S. House of Representatives
May 21, 2004Good morning, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee. I am Donald Welsh,Regional Administrator for Region III of the United States Environmental Protection Agency(EPA). Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to comment on H.R. 4268, theLead Free Drinking Water Act, and to provide a full update on the important issue of lead in thetap water of District of Columbia residents and the steps EPA and other agencies are taking toresolve the problem.Let me begin by updating the committee with the latest developments in the District of Columbia. There is no higher priority for my office than to continue to work with the city andother partners to protect those who live and work in the District and to identify and correct thecause of elevated lead in the water. Since I last appeared before this committee on March 5,2004, significant progress has been made in both areas.EPA has authorized interim water treatment changes recommended by a TechnicalExpert Working Group to reduce the elevated lead levels in the tap water. The anticipatedtimetable for full introduction of the proposed remedy has been accelerated to mid-July,depending on the results of a more limited application scheduled to commence on or about June1. These efforts will be detailed later in my testimony.My remarks also will outline the steps being taken by, and at the direction of, EPA and1
the District of Columbia to ensure residents have access to safe drinking water and properprecautionary guidance.
History and Extent of the Problem in D.C.
In prior testimony before this committee, the history and extent of the problem of lead intap water in the District of Columbia was detailed. Briefly, in D.C., implementation of theregulatory framework established in EPA’s 1991 Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) did not achievekey aspects of the Rule’s intended objectives. The LCR requires systems to optimize corrosioncontrol to prevent lead and copper from leaching into drinking water. To assure corrosion controlis effective, the rule establishes an action level of 15 parts per billion for lead. If leadconcentrations exceed 15 parts per billion in more than 10 percent of the taps sampled, thesystem must intensify tap water sampling and undertake a number of additional actions,including educating the public about steps they should take to protect their health. If the problemis not abated, the system must also begin a lead service line replacement program.Within the last couple of years in the District of Columbia, lead concentrations in tapwater in many homes increased well above the 15 parts per billion action level. In addition,public education efforts taken by the local utility were ineffective.D.C. exceeded the 15 ppb action level during three reporting periods between 1992 and1994 before it installed corrosion control treatment. The pH adjustment treatment implementedby the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Washington Aqueduct, and given interim approval by EPARegion III in 1997 and final approval in 2000, appeared to be effective in minimizing lead levelsuntil the reporting period between July 1, 2001 and June 30, 2002. EPA received a final report2
from the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) on August 27, 2002indicating that the 90
th
percentile value had increased to 75 ppb during that period. The highlevel required that WASA conduct more frequent monitoring every six months. The lead actionlevel was also exceeded for subsequent monitoring periods in 2003, with 90
th
percentile values of 40 ppb (January 1 to June 30, 2003) and 63 ppb (July 1 to December 31, 2003).Starting in March 2003, WASA began a lead service line sampling program to evaluatethe lead concentrations leached into water from lead service lines using a protocol that differsfrom that used for required tap monitoring. The Region received detailed sampling results fromthis program on October 27, 2003. The information was reviewed by our technical staff with aneye towards determining whether WASA met first-year goals for physical lead service linereplacement or effectively “replaced” lines based on sampling results, as well as understandingthe underlying cause of the corrosion problem. The report indicated that roughly two thirds of the 4,613 lead service lines tested through September 30, 2003 had lead levels that exceeded thelead action level. In many cases, lead levels from customer taps served by lead service lines werevery high, with nearly three percent of the samples above 300 ppb and 18.5 percent above 100ppb.Frequently, several months passed between the time a sample was collected by WASAand information was provided to homeowners who participated in the expanded samplingprogram. In addition, the notifications were not fully effective in relaying to the customers thesignificance of the problem.
Actions to Identify and Correct Source of Elevated Lead Levels
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