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Morning Briefing

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Monday, Aug 12 2019

Full Issue

Newark Residents Promised Bottled Water Over Worries Of Dangerous Lead In Public System

After an EPA letter cited insufficient home filters distributed by city, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said bottled water will be provided to residents with lead service lines. Meanwhile, the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Oregon has also been coping with unsafe drinking water for months. In other environmental health news: heat islands impact cities in summer and the EPA refuses to require cancer-warning labels on Roundup weedkiller.

The governor of New Jersey and the mayor of Newark have vowed to provide bottled water to city residents with lead service lines after tests indicate filters may not be protecting them against elevated lead levels. Gov. Phil Murphy and Mayor Ras Baraka said, however, in a statement Sunday evening that the city and state 鈥渨ill need support and assistance from the federal government鈥 to provide and distribute water to affected residents. And the Democratic leaders said long-term water distribution could affect the city鈥檚 corrosion control treatment launched in May, since for the system to work properly residents must keep city water flowing through their pipes. (8/11)

For more than a year, Newark officials denied the city had a widespread lead problem with its drinking water. Then, in an abrupt shift last fall, New Jersey鈥檚 largest city began giving out water filters to some residents. On Sunday 鈥 two days after a scathing letter from the E.P.A. raised concerns about the safety of the city鈥檚 drinking water 鈥 officials said they would start offering bottled water to residents.(Fitzsimmons, 8/11)

The Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Central Oregon has been without safe drinking water all summer, and some people have no running water at all. In May, a burst pipe led to a cascade of infrastructure failures. That leaves around 4,000 people improvising for survival. ... The [ad-hoc water distribution] center runs on donations, and it might distribute 3,000 gallons of water a day, plus other supplies like bleach wipes, plastic plates, utensils, and commodes, said Danny Martinez, emergency manager for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. (Cureton, 8/10)

As the United States suffers through a summer of record-breaking heat, new research shows that temperatures on a scorching summer day can vary as much as 20 degrees across different parts of the same city, with poor or minority neighborhoods often bearing the brunt of that heat. 鈥淭he heat island effect is often characterized as the city being hotter than surrounding rural areas,鈥 said Vivek Shandas, a professor of urban studies and planning at Portland State University, who led heat mapping projects across the country with help from community volunteers. 鈥淲e鈥檙e saying it鈥檚 a little more complicated than that.鈥 (8/9)

The Trump administration says it won鈥檛 approve warning labels for products that contain glyphosate, a move aimed at California as it fights one of the world鈥檚 largest agriculture companies about the potentially cancer-causing chemical. California requires warning labels on glyphosate products 鈥 widely known as the weed killer Roundup 鈥 because the International Agency for Research on Cancer has said it is 鈥減robably carcinogenic.鈥 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency disagrees, saying its research shows the chemical poses no risks to public health. (Beam, 8/9)

This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
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