Back to DC Water and Sewer Authority main page
Columns DCWatch
Archives Elections Government and People Budget issues Organizations |
United States Environmental
Protection Agency
Region 3 press Releases News Release For Immediate Release: March 16, 2004 EPA to WASA: Redraw Lead Samples from 2004Contact: Roy Seneca (215) 814-5567 PHILADELPHIA – The EPA mid-Atlantic region today advised WASA that it must resample for lead in homes where unreliable water samples may have been drawn this year due to incorrect sampling instructions provided by a contractor. The error was a paragraph with instructions for collecting a second-draw water sample, which inadvertently replaced first-draw instructions. The first-draw instructions were omitted. This is significant because in a first draw, no water is run for at least six hours, then the bottle is held under the faucet before it is turned on. In the second draw, water is run until very cold, then the sample is collected from the water stream. Two samples collected in sequence provide reliable data about the lead content of water in the home plumbing and service line. EPA acted today out of concern that samples taken in 2004 with the incorrect procedure may not accurately reflect actual lead concentrations in the water. WASA analyzed 1837 samples through March 8, and is expected next week to provide EPA with results of another 3,000 samples. It is unknown at this time how many homes were sampled with the wrong instructions, and therefore sampling results are questionable. WASA is reviewing sampling data to see if it can learn which homes were sampled using incorrect instructions. The sampling and analysis were done by a contractor hired by WASA. "It is imperative that the public have confidence in the accuracy of the results obtained from these samples," wrote Donald S. Welsh. EPA's mid-Atlantic regional administrator, in a letter to Jerry Johnson, WASA general manager. Welsh directed WASA to immediately notify all residents whose water samples are in doubt, provide them a new sampling kit with correct instructions within 14 days, and reanalyze the results within 30 days of the pickup of the sample. In addition, Welsh required that EPA review all changes in sampling protocols before they are made public. |
Send mail with questions or comments to webmaster@dcwatch.com
Web site copyright ©DCWatch (ISSN 1546-4296)