Flint disaster could not happen in Reading, water official says

by Steve Reinbrecht

Reading and Flint, Mich., are each known as among the poorest cities in America. Neglect and cover-ups at a criminal level seem to be emerging in the Michigan community.

Could contaminated water be poisoning residents in Reading as it has in Flint?

No way, a Reading Area Water official said Thursday.

“Quite simply, there are no parallels between the city of Flint water system and the Reading Area Water Authority water system,” authority solicitor Michael Setley wrote in an e-mail.

“The fact that Flint may have an impoverished population and old pipes had nothing to do with the toxicity of their water.”

The problem started when Flint switched water sources, according to Reuters:

“Flint, under a state-appointed emergency manager, switched to Flint River water in April 2014 from the Lake Huron supply that Detroit uses to save money.

“Complaints about the water began within a month of the move. But Flint did not return to Detroit water until October 2015 after tests showed elevated levels of lead, which can cause brain damage and other health problems, in Flint tap water and in some children. Corrosive water from the river, known locally as a dumping ground, caused more lead to leach from Flint pipes than Detroit water did.”

As many as 9,000 children may have suffered lead poisoning, the Times reported.

RAWA serves about 150,000 people. It draws water from Lake Ontelaunee, which is not contaminated with lead, Setley wrote.

“RAWA has no plans to switch the source of its water. Therefore, there is no risk that RAWA’s system will experience the water-source-related problems plaguing Flint.”

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama said that Flint officials keeping the truth from customers was inexcusable.

That couldn’t happen with Reading’s water, Setley said.

In Pennsylvania, the Department of Environmental Protection mandates routine water sampling and testing. It also requires public disclosure of any event that violates DEP water quality standards.

I found the state's website dauntingly difficult to navigate, but the information seems to be there.

According to the DEP website, RAWA had no lead problems in 2014 and one a year at least back to 2009. The violations are listed in the authority’s annual reports.

“Absent fraud in water sampling and testing, which I can’t imagine, it is virtually impossible to keep a water quality issue a secret. There are simply too many sets of eyes on it every day,” Setley said.