Durham must retest water

Lead woes prompt state action in 'interest of public health'

DURHAM -- In the "interest of public health," state regulators will require Durham to retest tap water from selected homes for lead within six months and step up efforts to inform city residents how to avoid exposure to the toxic metal.

Durham also must submit a plan on how it will control chemical conditions that can make the city's drinking water too corrosive, which increases the likelihood of lead leaching from old plumbing fixtures and pipe solder.

Any drinking water service lines in the city that contain lead will have to be dug up and replaced.

"It is our assumption that the City of Durham will begin these activities immediately, and some of them are ongoing," Laura Leonard, spokeswoman for the state Division of Environmental Health, said in an e-mail message Thursday.

Results withheld

The action, made known to Durham officials earlier this week, follows a News & Observer investigation that showed the city withheld results of a "special internal study" of lead levels in homes -- a violation of state and federal rules.

Some residents of homes with lead levels several times the federal safety limit said they were never told that their tap water was tainted, a failure a state toxicologist says endangered their health.

Leonard confirmed that if Durham's lead testing scores are recalculated using the withheld samples, the water will fail to meet health standards under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

Durham will be issued a formal reporting violation for its failure to disclose a complete accounting of its testing results on time, Leonard said. State regulators have not decided whether to impose more serious civil penalties, which can carry hefty fines.

Durham's water supply has been under increased scrutiny since April, when a child's blood was found to have high lead levels. County health officials found that water from the kitchen faucet in the South Durham apartment where the child lived was 60 times the federal limit.

State regulators e-mailed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Dec. 27 seeking clarification about what test results Durham should have included in its compliance report filed in October. As long as 90 percent of the homes reported are under the lead limit, the city's water is judged safe.

Chris Thomas, EPA Drinking Water Section chief, sent a response Jan. 10 quoting a 2004 rules memorandum: "All sample results from a system's sampling pool during the monitoring period must be included in the 90th percentile calculation."

At issue is when the samples were collected. Federal rules say all samples collected between June 1 and Sept. 30 taken from homes on the city's required testing list must be included in the scoring calculation.

Durham officials say they thought only results from September had to be included. The city didn't report results from samples taken from at least seven targeted homes in June, July and August.

City officials said they tested homes with a documented risk of lead contamination to gauge the impact of changes to the city's water treatment chemistry. The results showed lead levels declined as the changes were made, but at least five homes tested over the federal limit.

When the city submitted its September results to the state, however, it claimed it was unable to test some of the same homes that had tested "hot" the previous months. Affected homeowners say they were never asked for samples in September.

Informed of the Jan. 11 EPA e-mail message, Durham officials asked to appeal the decision that the city be held to the reporting requirements in the federal rules, Leonard said.

The state agreed to delay recalculating the 2006 test results until the EPA makes a "final determination" on Durham's appeal. But Leonard said state regulators also insisted that the city perform the extra testing and public education required by law when a water system fails to meet federal safety standards.

Review announced

At a City Council meeting Thursday, City Manager Patrick Baker said he will hire the Water Resources Research Institute, with headquarters at N.C. State University, to review Durham's water treatment methods, lead testing and public education efforts.

Baker made no public mention of the state's directive. A request for additional information made Thursday to the city's public affairs office received no response.

The Durham People's Alliance, a citizens' group, sent a statement to council members Tuesday stating concern about "the city's focus on procedural and compliance issues at the expense of public health outcomes."

Mayor Bill Bell said Thursday night he was unaware of the state's decision.

"If that's what we are required to do, we need to plan to do it," Bell said. "We have regulatory agencies we are required to report to, and we need to make sure we meet their requirements."