The Environmental Protection Agency sampled a small number of Chicago homes and found higher levels of lead where water pipes were disturbed by street work and plumbing repairs. Phil Ponce discusses the issue with Thomas Powers, Commissioner of Chicago’s Department of Water Management, Susan Hedman, EPA Region 5 Administrator directing EPA’s operations in the six-state Great Lakes region, and Dr. Peter Orris, Chief of Service in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at UIC Medical Center. Read the EPA study.

Related Links:

EPA Study: Detection and Evaluation of Elevated Lead Release from Service Lines: A Field Study

EPA: Advice to Chicago Residents

City of Chicago: 2013 Water and Sewer Main Projects

Chicago Tribune article on EPA: Modernizing Chicago water system may boost levels of lead

Chicago Tribune article on Should Chicagoans filter their drinking water?