Several groups and nonprofit organizations on Monday filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency over the cancellation of a $7 billion Solar for All program intended to make solar power accessible to more than 900,000 lower-income Americans.

They say the Trump administration‘s termination of the program was illegal and they want a federal judge to direct the EPA to reinstate it. The program is affiliated with $20 billion more in green funding also terminated under President Donald Trump that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin had characterized as a fraudulent scheme fraught with waste.

The EPA does not comment on litigation, the agency stated in an email on Monday.

The lawsuit is the latest legal action taken against the administration amid its assault on clean energy policy and related funding and programs across the country. Trump has moved to boost production of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal.

The lawsuit filed in Rhode Island by the Rhode Island AFL-CIO labor organization and others — including public interest law center Rhode Island Center for Justice and nonprofit Solar United Neighbors — detailed the program’s importance for local workforces and lower-income communities looking for access to clean-energy project funding.

Patrick Crowley, president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, said Monday that the program’s termination kills jobs and will drive up electricity prices.

The Solar for All money was rescinded after Trump’s massive tax and spending law passed in Congress in July. Zeldin stated via social media at the time, “the bottom line is this: EPA no longer has the statutory authority to administer the program or the appropriated funds to keep this boondoggle alive.”

The groups argued in the lawsuit that the law only revoked climate grants not yet awarded by the EPA and that these solar funds were already awarded.

“T��� Trump administration’s rollback of the Solar for All program is a shameless attempt to prop up fossil fuel companies at the expense of families,” said Kate Sinding Daly, senior vice president for law and policy at the Conservation Law Foundation, one of the nonprofit legal advocacy groups representing the plaintiffs.

“This program would provide families with low incomes access to clean, affordable solar power: energy that lowers bills, improves air quality, and keeps people safer during extreme heat,” she added in a statement.

The lawsuit cites previous EPA estimates that the program would have saved recipients about $400 each year on electricity bills and cumulatively reduced or avoided greenhouse gas emissions by over 30 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.

The $7 billion Solar for All program was part of the $27 billion “green bank,” which is formally known as the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. It was established in the Democrat-backed climate law passed in 2022 under former President Joe Biden.

The other $20 billion, canceled by the Trump administration in March, was slated for eight community development banks and nonprofit organizations for tens of thousands of projects to combat the effects of climate change, such as residential energy efficiency projects to larger-scale investments such as community cooling.

Groups have also sued over the cancellation of that money — with a federal judge saying they must have access to some of the funds — though recently, an appeals court ruled that federal officials can move forward with its termination.

The Trump administration has targeted a host of programs and policies dedicated to clean energy.

Just last week, the administration canceled $7.6 billion in grants for hundreds of climate-friendly projects across 16 states. It has also interfered with nearly complete offshore wind developments, moved to rescind the crucial ‘endangerment finding’ that allows climate regulation, is looking to end greenhouse gas emissions reporting requirements for large polluters, and taken a slew of other deregulatory measures.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency said Friday it is eliminating its research and development arm and reducing agency staff by thousands of employees.

The agency’s Office of Research and Development has long provided the scientific underpinnings for EPA’s mission to protect the environment and human health. The EPA said in May it would  to program offices that focus on major issues like air and water.

The agency said Friday it is creating a new Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions that will allow it to focus on research and science “more than ever before.”

Once fully implemented, the changes will save the EPA nearly $750 million, officials said.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement that the changes announced Friday would ensure the agency “is better equipped than ever to deliver on our core mission of protecting human health and the environment, while Powering the Great American Comeback.”

The EPA also said it is beginning the process to eliminate thousands of jobs, following a  last week that cleared the way for President  plans to downsize the federal workforce, despite warnings that critical government services will be lost and hundreds of thousands of federal employees will be out of their jobs.

Total staffing at EPA will go down to 12,448, a reduction of more than 3,700 employees, or nearly 23%, from staffing levels in January when Trump took office, the agency said.

“This reduction in force will ensure we can better fulfill that mission while being responsible stewards of your hard-earned tax dollars,” Zeldin said, using a government term for mass firings.

‘Heart and brain of EPA’

Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, the top Democrat on the House Science Committee, called the elimination of the research office “a travesty.”

“T��� Trump administration is firing hardworking scientists while employing political appointees whose job it is to lie incessantly to Congress and to the American people,” she said. “T��� obliteration of ORD will have generational impacts on Americans’ health and safety.”

The Office of Research and Development “is the heart and brain of the EPA,” said Justin Chen, president of American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, which represents thousands of EPA employees.

“Without it, we don’t have the means to assess impacts upon human health and the environment,” Chen said. “Its destruction will devastate public health in our country.”

The research office — EPA’s main science arm — currently has 1,540 positions, excluding special government employees and public health officers, according to  reviewed by Democratic staff on the House science panel earlier this year. As many as 1,155 chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists could be laid off, the documents indicated.

The research office has 10 facilities across the country, stretching from Florida and North Carolina to Oregon. An EPA spokeswoman said Friday that all laboratory functions currently conducted by the research office will continue.

In addition to the reduction in force, or RIF, the agency also is offering the third round of deferred resignations for eligible employees, including research office staff, spokeswoman Molly Vaseliou said. The application period is open until July 25.

‘Declaration of dissent’

The EPA’s announcement comes two weeks after the agency  who signed a “declaration of dissent” with agency policies under the Trump administration. The agency accused the employees of “unlawfully undermining” Trump’s agenda.

In a letter made public June 30, the employees wrote that the EPA is  to protect human health and the environment. The letter represented rare public criticism from agency employees who knew they could face retaliation for speaking out.

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FLINT, Mich. — Jeffrey Bell watched as crews dug up and replaced neighbors’ lead water pipes, hoping his mother’s house would be next. Workers told him the house wasn’t on their list but probably was assigned to another contractor.

With Flint’s lead pipe replacement program winding down this year, Bell and his elderly mother worried the home they share was forgotten. Betty Bell repeatedly called the city while continuing to buy bottled drinking water, as she had for years. Finally, someone called to say the water line is fine — records indicate it was checked in 2017. But the Bells weren’t aware, exemplifying residents’ confusion over a process marred by delays and poor communication.

“I have even more questions now,” Jeffrey Bell said.

About a decade after Flint’s water crisis caused national outrage, replacement of lead water pipes there still isn’t finished. Although the city recently said it completed work required under a legal settlement, the agreement didn’t cover vacant homes and allowed owners to refuse, potentially leaving hundreds of pipes in the ground. The state agreed to oversee work on those properties and says it’s determined to finish by fall.

Flint’s missteps offer lessons for municipalities that face a recently imposed federal mandate to replace their own lead service lines. The Trump administration is expected to soon tell a federal appeals court if it will stand by that mandate.

“I think other cities are racing not to be Flint,” said Margie Kelly, a spokesperson with the Natural Resources Defense Council, a nonprofit that reached a settlement with the city to force it to replace lead pipes.

Flint falters

Flint’s crisis was set in motion in 2014, when a state-appointed emergency manager ended a contract with Detroit’s water system and switched to the Flint River to save money. But the state didn’t require treatment to prevent corrosion that caused lead to leach into the water.

High levels of lead eventually were detected in drinking water and children’s blood. Outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease that killed a dozen people were also linked, in part, to the city’s water.

In 2017, Flint entered a settlement requiring it to replace all lead pipes and fix dug-up yards for free within three years. Funds were directed first toward homes with known lead lines at the NRDC‘s insistence, which meant workers couldn’t tackle neighborhoods systematically. And finding those homes proved challenging because many records were missing or inaccurate — some handwritten on notecards dating to the early 1900s.

“T��� city’s overall management of the program was ineffective,” and it could have better coordinated work geographically, said Sarah Tallman, an attorney with the NRDC.

That stalled the program and, ultimately, the city had to check every pipe anyway. COVID-19 also slowed work.

Flint Department of Public Works Director Kenneth Miller, who was hired last year, said the city didn’t know how many homeowners had opted out of lead pipe replacement or how many properties had simply been missed as contractors came and went.

“Just like any other organization, people get lax, people stop doing things, people get laid off and the person that used to do it doesn’t do it anymore,” he said.

Because the city didn’t keep accurate records of repairs, a judge ordered officials to visually check thousands of properties that had been excavated.

Yards torn up by contractors sometimes sat that way for months or years. For months, Danyele Darrough’s lawn was a mess, and the sidewalk and driveway were covered, she said. Grass seed that workers applied never grew. Finally, this spring, nearly three years later, she bought bags of topsoil and seed to fix her lawn herself.

“It was like, yeah, we knew it; we couldn’t trust them,” Darrough said.

Miller said the city now has robust data management, which he recommends to other communities tackling lead lines.

Steep population loss left thousands of vacant homes that will require contractors to cap lead lines where they’re found, said Eric Oswald, drinking water director at Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.

“T��� state and the city wanted to absolutely make sure that … we leave no stone unturned,” he said.

Trust is key

In Flint, government at every level caused the lead crisis or delayed fixing it, according to an EPA inspector general report. The scandal damaged trust in government — nearly 700 Flint homeowners declined free lead pipe replacement, the NRDC said.

Flint finally adopted an ordinance last year to prevent homeowners from opting out.

“It’s very difficult to get across the finish line unless you’ve got something to enforce,” Oswald said. Benton Harbor, across the state, implemented a similar provision early on, helping its work move smoothly.

Now officials are working from a list of more than 4,000 properties where there could be a lead line, sending letters and making in-person visits to homes, if needed. Miller said he hopes the outreach will show that customer service is now a priority, but it will take time to rebuild trust.

Some also distrust the Environmental Protection Agency, which in May lifted a long-standing emergency order for Flint water. The agency said it’s now safe to drink from the tap after years of tests showing sharply reduced lead levels.

“We don’t know what to believe,” resident Aonie Gilcreast said at a recent community gathering. “We don’t trust the system” because officials have said “time after time after time …. that everything was fine.”

As other cities and towns start replacing their own lead pipes — there are roughly 9 million in the U.S. — one thing should be top of mind, experts say: Digging them up isn’t just a construction job, but also a test of community trust.

To replace the lines that connect the water main in the street to homes, workers usually must dig in the street and yard, and enter the home. When residents trust local government, they’re more willing to grant that access.

“With lead, as with everything else, the first time people hear from their water utility can’t be when there is a concern,” said Greg Kail, spokesperson with utility industry group American Water Works Association. Instead, it is important for utilities to reach out to residents about what they plan to do and enlist trusted community groups in the effort.

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced the selection of $6.85 million in Brownfields Grants to communities in Oregon. Nationwide, $267 million in grants are being awarded.

Federal grant recipients must satisfy legal and administrative requirements to receive funds from EPA, an EPA press release states. Brownfield Grants include Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grants.

Assessment Grants will provide funding for brownfield inventories, planning, environmental assessments and community outreach. Oregon is receiving four Assessment Grants.

• The city of Beaverton will receive $500,000;
• Northwest Oregon Economic Alliance will receive $1.2 million;
• the city of Portland will receive $500,000; and
• Tillamook County will receive $500,000.

Cleanup Grants will provide money to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites owned by the recipient. Oregon is receiving three Cleanup Grants.

• The city of Astoria will receive $2 million;
• the North Plains Urban Renewal Agency will receive $500,000; and
• the city of Portland will receive $500,000.

Supplemental Revolving Loan Fund Grants are awarded to high-performing recipients to help communities continue their work to carry out cleanup and redevelopment projects on contaminated brownfield properties. Supplemental funding for Revolving Loan Fund Grants is available to recipients that have depleted their funds and have viable cleanup projects ready for work. Oregon has one recipient of a Supplemental RFL Grant:

• The Oregon Business Development Department will receive $650,000.

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will provide Climate Pollution Reduction Grants to eight Tribes in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The Tribes will receive $78,441,385 in grants as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda.

The EPA selected 34 applications to fund projects nationwide to implement community-driven solutions to tackle the climate crisis, reduce air pollution, advance environmental justice and accelerate the clean energy transition.

In Oregon and Idaho, the Nez Perce Tribe received $8,707,461 to conduct energy audits and energy efficiency improvements at two tribal buildings, install 49 kW solar arrays, replace 68 fleet vehicles with EV / PHEV cars, install 72 Level II and Level III EV chargers and plant more than 400,000 trees over five years.

In Washington, the Nisqually Indian Tribe’s project received $5,437,277 to hire a Climate Resiliency Program Manager to lead implementation, install heat pump systems and a 252 kW solar system at the Tribe’s Public Safety Building, add 409 kW solar to three tribal services buildings, install heat pumps in 31 Nisqually rental homes and install solar on 30 Nisqually rental homes, and create a residential energy efficiency incentive program for tribal members living off reservation to install heat pumps and complete weatherization upgrades.

Also in Washington, the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe received $2,961,556 for its project to conduct forest restoration treatments in areas within the Ancestral Forest to enhance carbon sequestration, carry out restoration thinning on overstocked stands to mitigate wildfire risk, replant tree seedlings in barren stands and increase workforce capacity.

Others receiving funding include the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, $24,232,383; the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, $14,999,999; the Aleut of Saint Paul Island, $14,820,331; the Native Village of Eyak, $4,942,841; and the village of Solomon in Alaska, $2,339,537.

Grants for the proposed projects will support the implementation of greenhouse gas reduction measures that were identified by Tribal and territorial communities. When estimates provided by all selected applicants are combined, the proposed projects would cumulatively reduce greenhouse gas pollution by more than 7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2050 – equivalent to the carbon dioxide emitted from nearly 1.4 million homes’ electricity use for one year, according to a news release.

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By JONI AUDEN LAND
Oregon Public Broadcasting

Two federal agencies have announced a significant allocation of funds to the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs for a water treatment plant.

The Environmental Protection Agency and Indian Health Service announced last week that Warm Springs would receive a combined $23.8 million in money for the new treatment plant, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. Once online, the plant will serve around 3,800 people living in Warm Springs, the EPA said in a news release.

A completion date is not yet set, although the design phase is expected to start next year.

“This is the largest tribal water system award in Region 10 and we’re proud to be a part of such a historic investment in our community,” EPA administrator Casey Sixkiller said in a written statement.

The EPA noted the new facility will continue to draw water from the Deschutes River.

The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs have struggled for years with issues at their water treatment plant, which was built in the early 1980s. People who live on the reservation have faced frequent water outages before and during the pandemic, raising questions about public health safety. The aged water treatment facility also was forced to shut down temporarily last March following a fire, and has faced scrutiny from the EPA for violations.

Warm Springs Council Chairman Jonathan Smith said in the statement that the federal funding was a “historic investment,” that came as the result of partnerships between the tribe and federal agencies.

While the problems in maintaining the facility and treating the water have been documented for years, the large price tag for a new facility was a major barrier. Oregon lawmakers at times have provided smaller bundles of funding to fix immediate issues in Warm Springs, but a long-term solution has been evasive until Tuesday’s announcement.

The EPA stated much of the funding going to build the replacement facility will come from the recently passed Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

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By MONICA SAMAYOA
Oregon Public Broadcasting

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Two of Oregon’s most economically disadvantaged and racially diverse communities — one in Portland and the other on the south coast — are getting a boost in their fight against air pollution.

The air-quality challenges facing “environmental justice communities” are being highlighted by the Environmental Protection Agency’s grants to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, environmental nonprofit Verde and the Confederated Tribes of Coos Lower Umpqua & Siuslaw Indians. The grants are aimed at increasing air quality monitoring and awareness in communities where many residents are poor, people of color, and disproportionately burdened by pollution — like those living near industrial facilities or highways.

DEQ spokesperson Lauren Wirtis said the agency is set to receive nearly $500,000 that will be used to work with local communities, universities, and local agencies that will co-design a monitoring framework to collect better data that could lead to more action from the state.

“Part of what that looks like is allowing communities to leverage a library of instruments that DEQ maintains that would monitor (particulate matter) and diesel in their local area,” she told Oregon Public Broadcasting.

The agency will also be working with Neighbors for Clean Air, an environmental air quality advocacy group. Executive Director Mary Peveto said she’s thrilled more air quality monitoring units will be installed that will collect data to be collected in real-time. She said it will allow members of the community to ask questions about how the data is collected, what areas are most impacted and what can be done to reduce pollution.

Peveto said the grant money “first and foremost, I think, helps to immediately recenter this in community empowerment when the data is created or collected.”

The community-based environmental advocacy group Verde will receive nearly $120,000 to install air quality monitors in the Cully neighborhood. The monitoring will focus on airborne black carbon, or soot.

Cully is one of Portland’s most racially diverse neighborhoods, where more than half of the residents are people of color. According to DEQ data, the Cully neighborhood experienced the second-highest levels of arsenic compared to other sites in 2018.

Verde’s Oriana Magnera said more needs to be done to reduce air pollution in the neighborhood.
Cully is exposed to aviation pollution from nearby Portland International Airport, Magnera said. It’s also polluted by diesel trucks and trains that pass through the area. And glass-recycling and asphalt-grinding plants add to the neighborhood’s pollution.

Magnera said she hopes the air quality monitors will give community members the opportunity to collect their own data and weave it with their lived experience. She said she’s also hopeful the data is another way to identify other polluters in the area and ensure there is an opportunity to hold them accountable.

“Having actual hard data is sometimes the only way that state or federal agencies will listen and actually value community feedback,” she said.

The Coos tribes’ $500,000 share of the grant will increase community engagement and education on outdoor and indoor quality and develop a network of air quality monitors, said Chief Executive Officer Lee Ann Wander.

Without adequate air-quality monitoring around the tribes’ reservation and trust lands, “there is a presumption that coastal air is always clean,” she said.

“Because of this misconceived notion, many of our at-risk community members spend more time outdoors and suffer from health issues directly relating to poor air quality,” Wander said.

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KENNEWICK, Wash. (AP) — The J.R. Simplot Co. will pay a penalty of $65,250 after the Environmental Protection Administration accused it of pesticide safety issues just south of the Columbia River.

The penalty covers problems cited by EPA at both its Umatilla, Oregon, and Moreland, Idaho, facilities where large amounts of pesticide are stored and sold, the Tri-City Herald reported.

Simplot did not respond to a request for comment.

Simplot has a warehouse about 1,000 feet from the Umatilla River, just upstream from where it enters the Columbia River. The EPA said the warehouse had a 12-inch hole in the floor for piping that could allow liquid pesticide that spills to contaminate the ground under the warehouse.

The Idaho facility that was included in the settlement had pesticide spills that had solidified on the ground, creating a possible exposure for workers, according to the EPA.

Federal law requires structures used for containment to have discharge outlets and gravity drains sealed to prevent pesticide from leaking and contaminating the environment.

“Pesticides facilities have a responsibility to ensure their products are safely stored so that the people working there and living nearby are not exposed to potentially dangerous chemicals,” said Ed Kowlaski, director of EPA Region 10’s Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division.

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A Tigard steel fabricator has agreed to pay $82,000 in a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to resolve allegations that the company committed a series of industrial stormwater violations.

Fought & Co. Inc. agreed to the penalty, which stemmed from stormwater discharges into Fanno Creek. Fought discharged pollutants into the waterway at three separate discharge points, the EPA stated. Fanno Creek flows into the Tualatin, Willamette and Columbia rivers.

The Tigard company had discharge permits for the facility, but exceeded allowable levels for zinc, the federal agency stated. The EPA also documented allegations that Fought did not adequately maintain facilities, including a catch basin that accumulated sediment, failed to cover waste that was placed in a dumpster and other violations.

Fought is a major steel fabricator in the Northwest. Its products have been used in large-scale projects, including the 35-story Block 216 tower, Clackamas Community College’s Student Services Center and Field Office in Northwest Portland, according to the company’s website.

Fought, led by CEO Wayne Searle, neither admitted nor denied the allegations contained in the settlement agreement. The company has 30 days from the final order to pay the fine.

A call to the company’s headquarters for comment was not immediately returned.

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By SUMAN NAISHADHAM
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Included in the bipartisan infrastructure deal reached with President Joe Biden last week is a plan to eliminate the country’s remaining lead pipes and service lines, which for decades have posed a risk for contaminated water in millions of homes and schools.

Lead can enter drinking water when water utility pipes or the service lines that connect to homes corrode. It is considered harmful at any level, and children are particularly vulnerable because it can slow growth, cause anemia and result in learning and behavior problems.

Federal regulations over the years have banned the use of lead in plumbing systems, but some pipes and service lines that were built before the rules were enacted have yet to be replaced. The White House says lead pipes continue to serve an estimated 400,000 schools and child care centers and 6 million to 10 million homes.

A look at how lead pipes are being addressed.

WHO CHECKS FOR LEAD IN MY WATER?

The Environmental Protection Agency requires public water systems to conduct annual water quality tests and alert residents if lead contamination is found.

If lead is detected, water utilities have to replace pipes within 15 years and provide filters to households during the process.

But then there are the service lines that connect the utilities’ pipes to homes, and are often on private property. Checking for lead in those lines is generally the homeowner’s responsibility, though some cities and states provide funding to help replace them. Residents can hire a certified plumber to test service lines.

Some homes also have privately supplied water, such as from wells. In those cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says residents should test water annually and contact their local public health departments if lead is detected.

Local health departments or nearby water utilities that use ground water also keep information about local contaminants.

WHAT HAS BEEN DONE SO FAR ABOUT LEAD PIPES?

States and cities have worked for years to replace pipes and service lines, but efforts have lagged in many places in part because of the steep price tag.

The EPA estimates the average cost of replacing a lead service line ranges from $1,200 to $12,300 for a homeowner, and has made grants available for local governments to disperse.

Chicago, Denver and Newark, New Jersey are among the cities that have provided individual homeowners with full or partial financial aid in recent years to get rid of lead service lines.

WHAT ABOUT THE REMAINING PIPES?

To lessen the risk posed by lead pipes, cities treat drinking water with additives that help prevent their corrosion. Experts say such measures have helped reduce overall levels of exposure, but do not eliminate risk.

WHO IS AFFECTED BY LEAD PIPES?

Black and Hispanic Americans have long been at disproportionate risk of lead exposure in drinking water and lead-based paint, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, environmental advocates and medical researchers.

Children who live in housing built before 1978 or in households with incomes at or below the federal poverty line are thought to face the greatest risk of exposure.

The lead-tainted water crisis of Flint, Michigan, disproportionately hurt Black residents, who make up a majority of the city. When the city switched its water source in 2014 to the Flint River, state regulators advised local officials not to treat the river water with anti-corrosion chemicals. That resulted in river water scraping lead off the city’s aging pipes and plumbing fixtures.

A report later issued by the Michigan Civil Rights Commission found “systemic racism” at the core of problems that caused the water crisis.

WHAT IS CHANGING?

Under the Trump administration, the EPA modified a regulation to require water utilities to test fountains and faucets for lead at schools and child care centers. The Biden administration suspended and is reviewing that rule, which also would have nearly doubled the time utilities have to replace pipes when lead is found in them.

Some experts say lead tests for water pipes are unreliable, since results can vary based on factors such as how recently the pipe was flushed or whether construction shook lead particles loose at the time of testing.

Those variables can make concentrations of lead in water “fluctuate quite a bit,” said John Rumpler, clean water program director for Environment America, which advocates for environmental protections.

WOULD THE PROPOSED FUNDING GET RID OF ALL LEAD PIPES?

Biden’s proposed plan had set aside money for mapping out the extent of lead piping in the U.S., which remains difficult to assess in many older cities and towns. But experts say the $45 billion included in the proposal is a realistic ballpark figure for eliminating what’s estimated to remain.

Money for replacing pipes would be distributed through water programs and grants administered by the EPA to state and local governments and public water systems.

WOULD THIS END THE RISK OF LEAD EXPOSURE?

No. Water isn’t the only potential source of lead. Other sources include lead-based paint, which can be found in homes built before 1978 and soil contaminated from industrial sources including leaded gasoline.

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