Governor signs executive order in Kenosha | Local News – Kenosha News

Posted On: July 29, 2019

Saying lead contamination in drinking water is a problem in every county in Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers signed an executive order Monday creating a “lead czar” and directing state agencies to work together to address lead abatement.

Evers signed the order in Kenosha Monday morning, surrounded by children at Every Child’s Place, a day care center at Gateway Technical College.

“Children with elevated lead levels can suffer profound and permanent health problems, including damage to brain development,” Evers said. “There is no lead level determined to be safe. In other words, the only safe lead level is zero.”

The governor has made improving the safety of drinking water a priority in his administration, earlier declaring 2019 the “year of clean drinking water.”

The most recent state budget included $32 million to address water quality issues and to help communities pay for programs to improve drinking water safety.

That amount fell short of the $70 million Evers had proposed for drinking water initiatives.

The executive order the governor signed Monday does not provide additional funding; instead it creates a new position in state government that focuses on the issue and directing agencies to work together on drinking water quality.

“It creates a position at the Department of Health Services that is charged with coordinating inter-agency efforts to address childhood exposure to lead. In other words, a lead czar,” he said.

“Having an all-hands-on-deck effort by all the agencies not only gets some person power behind it, but it also helps us look for resources.

“And if we can’t convince our own Wisconsin legislature, hopefully we can convince our people in Washington, D.C., that we need some more resources,” Evers said.

People can be exposed to lead by drinking water contaminated by lead from old lead pipes, or from environmental sources like lead paint or contaminated soil.

People who live in older homes in older neighborhoods are particularly at risk, and children are at more risk than adults.

For children, elevated lead levels can lead to serious health problems, including behavior issues, difficulty learning and decreased intelligence.

Statewide, there are more than 176,000 lead water service lines carrying water to homes, schools and businesses. Those water lines are found in more than 100 cities and villages in the state.

Kenosha leading the way

Kenosha was the first city in Wisconsin to launch a program that provides city funds to replace lead water lines that run from the city’s water lines to homes.

State law was changed to allow cities to use water utility money to help pay to replace the water lines on private property.

The first homeowners in the city began taking advantage of the program last year, with homeowners eligible for grants of up to $2,000 to replace the lines.

Kenosha Water Utility Manager Curt Czarnecki said the city estimates there are 9,000 properties with lead water lines. He said the city will do free home visits and water tests to check properties. The average cost of replacing the lead lines to homes is $4,000, with the grant covering up to half that cost.

“To date there hasn’t been the overwhelming response we were hoping for,” Czarnecki said.

So far this year, he said, 130 property owners have expressed interest in the program and 43 have completed replacement projects.

“We are very happy the governor is going down this path in addressing lead poisoning,” said Mark Melotik of the Kenosha County Division of Health.

Safety of drinking water came to the public’s attention in 2014 when, in Flint, Mich., a change in water treatment in the city’s water utility caused increased lead levels that exposed more than 100,000 people to elevated lead levels.

A problem everywhere

Evers said water safety and lead in drinking water is wrongly considered an urban issue, saying that while Milwaukee has the highest number of homes with potential lead exposure, there have been children identified with lead poisoning in every county in the state.

“The bottom line is we should not be making decisions based on whether it’s an urban or rural area; it’s about our kids,” he said.