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People Are Going Wild About Reducing Plastic Pollution
Catch up on the Plastic Free July news from Berkeley...
Preventing Lead by Protecting Water in Massachusetts
Lead in water is the most significant source of lead exposure after lead paint. Lead was a preferred plumbing material, particularly for water service lines, until it was outlawed in 1986. The American Water Works Association estimates between 6-10 million homes are connected to a lead service line. Lead in Water: A Health Hazard Lead exposure isn’t good for anyone; but pregnant women and young children are most affected. Physical and behavioral effects of lead occur at lower exposure levels in children than in adults. A dose of lead that would have little effect on an adult can have a
Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CEC): An Early Warning Sign
People and industry use tens of thousands of chemicals. A vast array of these chemicals have been found in our environment, where we consider them contaminants of emerging concern or CECs. Most of these CECs have not been fully evaluated for the risks they might pose to the environment— or to our health.
Michigan’s Outdated and Dangerous Combined Sewer Systems
Many of Michigan’s urban and suburban areas expanded rapidly between the 1920s and the 1950s — an era with different priorities for water management. Many of Michigan’s water systems were originally built as combined systems, meaning the pipes carried both stormwater and wastewater. These systems simply discharged all water directly into local lakes, rivers, and streams, without treatment. Wastewater treatment centers were built later, and the combined sewer pipes were redirected there for the water to be processed before being released back into the water table. Starting in the mid-1950s
Protecting Michigan’s Waters: Infrastructure for the Future
Michigan is the Great Lakes state. As such, Michigan residents are acutely aware of our duty to protect the Great Lakes and our water resources for future generations. There are currently many threats to our water here in Michigan. Most of these threats have been looming for years, but action on them has been pushed off, as our legislature procrastinates and ignores the problems instead of taking the hard steps that action requires. The Flint water crisis brought the dangers of lead infrastructure and poor oversight from the state to the surface and a city was poisoned as a result. Every year
