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Mayor Anthony Williams and Councilmember Carol Schwartz
Letter to President George W. Bush requesting federal reimbursement to the District of Columbia and DC WASA
March 23, 2004

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ANTHONY A. WILLIAMS MAYOR
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

CAROL SCHWARTZ
CHAIR, COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC WORKS AND THE ENVIRONMENT 
COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

March 23, 2004

The Honorable George W. Bush 
President of the United States 
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. 
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Bush:

As you are aware, the Government of the District of Columbia and the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) have expended considerable effort and resources to deal with the presence of elevated levels of lead in the drinking water of some residences in the District. The lead appears to be entering the water through corrosion of lead service lines that connect water mains to residences. Although the lead service lines have been in place in most cases for more than fifty years, the elevation of lead levels in the water is a very recent phenomenon.

The apparent cause for this recent rise in lead levels is a change in the treatment chemistry initiated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers' Washington Aqueduct, the provider of the District's water, and approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the regulator of the District's water. EPA regulates the District's water because, unlike 49 of the states, the District does not have primacy for regulation in this area, despite multiple requests for such in the past 25 years. Thus, the responsibility and funding for regulation of the District's drinking water is delegated by EPA to its regional office in Philadelphia, rather than to the District.

As it now stands, the significant expenditures associated with addressing the lead problem will have to be borne by the District's taxpayers and WASA's ratepayers, which is inherently unfair. Thus far, these expenditures have come from five primary areas, as shown in the Table A below. Table A also shows an estimate of the total costs the District and WASA will incur in fiscal year 2004.

Table A. Total Costs to WASA and District of Columbia

THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA GOVERNMENT AND WATER & SEWER AUTHORITY
PROJECTED FY 2004 COST FOR LEAD WATER CONTAMINATION OPERATION

FUNCTION GRAND TOTAL WASA DISTRICT
Blood Testing $2,398,401 $1,250,000 $1,148,401
Water Testing $7,999,000 $7,999,000  
Communications $1,235,860 $1,170,700 $65,160
Logistics Support $2,045,840 $1,529,000 $516,840
Lead pipe replacement $12,145,000 $12,145,000  
Total $25,824,101 $24,093,700 $1,730,401
By this letter, we are requesting full reimbursement to both the District and to WASA for these costs. The regulatory decisions of EPA appear to have generated these costs, and the resources to address them reside within EPA. It would be wholly inappropriate and unjust for the people, of the District to bear these costs. Even had the actions of EPA not been the cause of this problem, the structural imbalance the District faces due to its unique situation relative to the federal government leaves it with insufficient resources to support its basic needs, let alone extraordinary demands such as have been created by the lead in water problem.

On behalf of the people of the District of Columbia, we respectfully request a prompt and favorable reply.

Sincerely,
Anthony A. Williams Mayor

Carol Schwartz 
Councilmember, At-Large
Chair, Committee on Public Works and the Environment

AAW/CS/edr

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