Rick Reibstein and Josh Taylor interviewed by WGBH
In 2018 students of the class “Research for Environmental Agencies and Organizations” wrote to every municipality in Massachusetts to find out what actions were being taken to address the problem of lead in water. Today, Junior Josh Taylor and Lecturer Richard Reibstein were interviewed by WGBH reporter Craig LeMoult on what this project revealed and other matters pertaining to lead in our environment. Few cities or towns responded that they were taking concerted action, yet Mass Department of Environmental Protection information showed that many were finding levels of concern. Taylor pointed out that partial replacements of lead service lines have often worsened exposures, so that it is important to replace the entire water service line, but that ownership is often divided between the local government and the homeowner. Reibstein noted that lead in paint, soil and products are of great concern as well, but that investment in removing the sources of lead would not be prohibitively expensive and would pay for itself many times over. See the lead project at www.bu.edu/rccp
Rick Reibstein, who has previously worked both in the Massachusetts Toxic Use Reduction Program and as an enforcement attorney at EPA, said lead in drinking water “is one of the saddest stories about our civilization’s inability to cope with an obvious, preventable problem.”
“Studies have shown that the hazards of lead are extremely costly,” Reibstein said. “The injuries that we experience, we see in reduced capacity to produce, to learn, to behave. We see increases in crime. We see increases in dropping out of school. And the losses from economic damage are extraordinary and far exceed whatever investment it would take to replace lead leaded items.”
Read the article here