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LA City Council approves plan to investigate lead contamination in Watts' tap water
Better Watts Initiative studied hundreds of water samples across Watts and found varying levels of lead in 21 of them, including from public housing units.
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Martin Bernetti
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AFP
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The L.A. City Council is moving forward with a “comprehensive plan” to investigate the source of lead exposure found in Watt’s tap water, as well as repairs for the affected areas.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) have been directed to immediately develop strategies to protect people living in Watts.
Wednesday’s vote was 10 to 0, with Councilmembers Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Imelda Padilla, Curren Price, Nithya Raman, and Katy Yaroslavsky absent.
What residents say
Timothy Watkins, the founder of Better Watts Initiative and CEO of the Watts Labor Community Action Committee, told the council that while they welcome the attention and action, the neighborhood has dealt with contamination for years.
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“We also lost a lot of ground, a lot of time that we could have been developing our community,” he said.
What officials say
Councilmember Tim McOsker, who represents the area, said no measure of lead is good, but this is an “alarming level” that requires mandatory infrastructure repairs and public notifications. He added that hydration stations have been mobilized, and they’ve been hosting daily meetings to brief officials on what's being done.
“Every one of us, every corner of the city should be aghast,” he said. “And if it happens anywhere else in the city, I commit to you I'll lean in as strongly as we are leaning in together today.”
The backstory
A nonprofit, Better Watts Initiative, studied hundreds of water samples from across the neighborhood and found varying levels of lead in 21 of them, including from public housing units.
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The amount of lead in five of the samples exceeded 15 parts per billion, which, the researchers note, is considered a “violation of the detectable safety limit set by the EPA."
Just under half the units sampled came from apartments or condos. Another 41% came from single-family homes, and the remainder from multi-family homes.
What's next
LADWP and HACLA will investigate the issue, including how officials can effectively share information with the community.
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