Document ID: EPA-HQ-OLEM-2021-0762-0039
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2022-03-17T04:00Z

Virtual Public Listening Sessions on EPA's draft Lead Strategy to Reduce Lead Exposures and Disparities in U.S. Communities
Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OLEM-2021-0762
R6 Public Listening Session 
Date: February 15, 2022
Start Time: 6:00 PM CT (7 PM ET)
Record of Public Comments
(To view a recording of the listening session, please visit: https://youtu.be/k46W8kIkl-o)

27:25
[Linda Bates, Private Citizen] My name is Linda Bates from Dallas, Texas. I am a citizen, that has been contaminated through the RSR Company on Westmoreland. I really don't think it's nothing that can be done but except reparation for the people because the damage has been done.
27:46
Our kids are messed up, we messed up, we got all kinds of sicknesses illnesses, and most of the people done died. All of them died, most of them died from cancer and all kinds of stuff, but right now it's not nothing cleaning up the dirt is too late now.
28:02
The damage has been done to us. I mean, I'm sick, my kids sick I got sick grandkids, is it just too much, but they always talking about taking money doing this. Ah, take the money give it to other people so they have a decent life to live what's left of it.
28:20
Because from this point I've never had a healthy day in my life. Well, I have to wake up pain in bones and I done had cancer, and I think it's ridiculous for us to sit back and watch them just take money and put it in this grant and try to revitalize
28:38
stuff that's not even good for the people. Give us something to live for. Give us the money that y'all trying to put into the company's into the ground and try to destruction because when I lived in West Dallas at RSR plant and went
28:57
to school, I smoked 365 days a year. I drunk contamination 365 days a year. I walked in it at 365 days a year. Now I'm so sick. So I have to be at the doctor all the time, every month, I have to give this, I got COPD, I done had cancer,
29:17
I have all kinds of illnesses. So it's not fine for them to take money that the people really need to just pay the people, come on now we need dire need for reparation on this on lead, even though it was more than lead out there, and then they open up
29:40
a 7 Eleven up on the corner where the RSR was located. Okay, we went out there, we pulled up battery cases and slags and all this stuff. And then we had them tested the amount of lead that's still out there is ridiculous, they covered it up Instead of covering
30:00
it up. Help us, we need help, we are sick and dying people. It's worse than the CORONA I guess, well, we done had CORONA so if we need help.
30:13
We just need the money instead of putting it trying to figure it out. It's too late. We're sick, pay us.
30:22
We have nothing left to live for, but somebody to help us, pay us give us some kind of reparation instead of trying to figure out facts, it is too late, the damage is already done and nothing else can be done.
31:30
[Jessica Blazewicz, Healthy Gulf] Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the proposed strategy to reduce lead exposures and disparities in the U.S. communities. My name is Jessica Blazewicz, and I'm a law student at Loyola University in New Orleans College of Law, and a
31:43
of New Orleans. I intern with the environmental law and policy lab partnering with Healthy Gulf to advocate for water crisis and Sulphur, Louisiana, and to address the water crisis across Louisiana.
31:59
in our communities. Lead is a significant issue in Louisiana drinking water and 2019 Louisiana received an "F" in protecting children from lead in drinking water at schools, testing as recently as 2021 revealed levels of lead and Sulphur High School, above
32:15
the MCLs. As both a citizen and an advocate for drinking water safety, I'm deeply concerned by the lack of discussion on lowering the maximum contaminant level for lead in public drinking water systems.
32:27
I understand the reluctance to set standards that would force higher costs on states and cities. However, I believe that the safety of our community should be a higher priority.
32:36
The EPA is current MCL is outdated and does not reflect current scientific or health guidelines. It's widely understood by public health authorities, including the CDC.
32:46
The World Health Organization and the EPA that there is no safe level of lead exposure, while the current draft strategy is commendable by failing to lower the action level of lead and public drinking water systems it fails and its ultimate goal of protecting
33:00
public health. For these reasons I strongly urge the EPA to continue to work towards reducing lead exposures in our community and to align the federal MCL with current scientific and health recommendations.
33:41
[Reverend James L. Caldwell Coalition of Community Organizations] Thank you. First of all I want to thank EPA, Dr. Nance, and others for allowing this call to take place, and addressing the lead issue, not just in our schools but across our country, especially in black and brown communities.
33:56
I want to address the lead issue here in Houston I'm calling from Houston, and this was discovered by our school board that 84% of the schools in Houston contain lead.
34:11
We know about the incident in Flint, where 5% of the students tested there had lead and their blood. In 5th Ward alone which is one of the communities in Houston, 9% of the students tested had lead in their blood, and as you go farther east in the
34:33
city there is a community, call the East End that has 15% of students tested had lead in their blood.
34:41
Now, I've heard the plan and I haven't gone into detail in regard to it, but I just wanted to ask the question, are there any preventative measures to prevent lead from being in our schools in other words things such as filters that will filter out
35:02
the lead in schools, thinking in terms of not of the impact, which needs to be addressed now past and present, but also the future impact of lead in our schools and students and kids that's going to be impacted by it.
35:20
I would, in offering this comment. I would like to know the prevention aspect of it, how do we prevent lead, in use in lot of the schools are old, a lot of the elementary schools, middle schools, high schools are old, a lot pipes are old and
35:40
they're not going to spend that kind of money to replace to redo an entire district. But there are some preventative solutions that can be put in place to prevent that from occurring.
35:55
And also prevent the harm the pain the misery and the suffering that it brings about. So I thank you for the opportunity to share our concerns here, but I really would like to see the preventive aspect of it.
36:13
Not belittling the fact of the past impact and the current impact.
36:20
Thank you.
38:02
[Gary Keller, Private Citizen] I'm going to refer to the strategy for the reduce the lead exposures and disparities and U.S. communities.
38:09
On page 15 of that document they talk about an Approach 3 which is reduced let exposures from a whole of EPA and whole government approach and they're talking specifically here about reduced lead from piston engine aircraft. Most people don't know that
38:26
piston engine aircraft still burn, leaded fuel, How much they burn? 1 million pounds of lead emissions, a year. That's every year. Recently in California at Reid-Hillview, there was a test on it that airport.
38:44
And they found that the children there had elevated blood lead levels, which rival those that were found in Flint, Michigan. In Region 6, there is currently 114,000 pounds of LED missions every year from general aviation aircraft.
39:05
That's 57 tons of lead emissions.
39:09
On an average across United States 70% of all new lead emissions comes from general aviation aircrafts. In Texas, that number goes up to 80% in New Mexico, that number goes up to 90%.
39:27
So in Region 6, they have way too much lead emissions and it's all coming from general aviation aircraft. Back to California at Reid-Hillview airport, they have banned the use of leaded fuel.
39:42
And we're hoping other airports, do the same, we're joining in that effort.
39:49
The EPA is responsible for protecting us from this lead. There's millions of dollars that are spent every year to remove old lead paint from homes. Well, nobody's looking above them where they get showered down with new lead emissions, every day.
40:08
Thank you.
40:33
[Michael Lewis, Environment Texas] Good evening. My name is Michael Lewis of Environment Texas. We are a statewide citizen based environmental advocacy organization.
40:42
Our organization has two specific recommendations regarding the EPA's actions on lead. First, we ask that the EPA require water utilities to replace all lead service lines within the next 10 years, and order this requirement as part of the updated lead
40:57
and copper rule, which EPA should propose no later than sometime this year. Many national groups joined us in a comment letter to EPA on the lead and copper rule making this demand previously, and EPA has only committed to updating the lead and copper
41:10
roll by 2024. President Biden had vowed that all lead pipes will be replaced in 10 years but that lacks teeth without the rule.
41:18
Second, we need real action on our schools. Right now, even though the White House says its action plan prioritizing schools and childcare, the lead and copper rule has minimally test it as minimal testing at schools, but no real action to prevent or
41:31
stop contamination.
41:34
EPA can only deregulate those schools.
41:38
Pardon me, that are their own work, that are their own water utilities, but at least for those schools, EPA could order certified filters on every tab used for cooking and drinking, which would set a clear model for, for all other schools.
41:53
Thank you for your time.
42:40
[Stephanie Phillips, City of San Antonio] Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Stephanie Phillips and I worked for the City of San Antonio's office of historic preservation.
42:48
I lead the city's deconstruction program and have reviewed exterior changes to hundreds of older pre 1978 structures for over five years as part of our preservation planning team.
42:59
I also sit on the National Board of Build Reuse a nonprofit aiming to empower communities to transform construction and demolition waste into local resources.
43:08
The purpose of my testimony is encourage EPA to consider two things for the draft lead strategy.
43:14
Number one, consider adding demolition of pre 1978 buildings as a lead emitting source that generates harmful dust and impacts air and soil. And number two, consider encouraging the salvage a pre 1978 building materials that are removed for abatement
43:30
so they can be reused elsewhere instead of thrown into landfills.
43:34
In the U.S., the primary method of building removal is mechanical demolition, which involves crushing a structure with heavy machinery and landfilling the materials.
43:42
Studies show that lead dust from the mechanical demolition can travel upwards of 400 feet before settling on two yards, parks, windowsills or within structures in San Antonio, a 2019 study titled opportunity at risk, looked at the role that older buildings
43:58
played in providing affordable housing. The study showed that older buildings not only house, a greater portion of the city's minority and low income residents, but those very same buildings are disproportionately vulnerable to demolition.
44:12
This is particularly critical when we apply a public health and equity lens, because demolition is effectively a form of air pollution. This is important in San Antonio, as our county has the highest asthma hospitalization rate in Texas, and the effects
44:26
of hazardous air particles are exacerbated by ozone action days, which are on the rise due to climate change. I encourage the EPA to consider the impact that demolition has on nearby residents in the same way that current EPA standards considers the impacts
44:42
of renovations on occupants. The term demolition is not mentioned once and the current draft strategy. In order to ensure environmental and justices are truly addressed, acknowledging that demolition is a lead hazard to vulnerable communities in this
44:56
strategy is essential.
44:58
deconstruction has been proven to increase the likelihood of safe hazardous material abatement because the removal of the building is done by hand. This minimizes the creation and spread of lead dust and diverts leaded materials from the landfill to organizations
45:12
that can properly update them for reuse elsewhere, organizations across the U.S., that are advocating for increased deconstruction activity, and the reuse of building materials to facilitate a circular economy would be able to make a greater impact in their
45:25
communities, with the EPA leadership guidance and support for deconstruction and material reuse over the demolition and material landfilling. Thank you so much for your time and considerations.
45:57
[Cynthia Robertson, Micah Six Eight Mission] It's Cindy Robertson, with Micah Six Eight Mission serve justice, love mercy, walk humbly.
46:10
Thanks for listening to the community tonight.
46:14
As I said, my name is Cindy Robertson and I'm the Executive Director of Mica Six Eight Mission.
46:20
And so for Louisiana, we have been working on the sulfur water problems with the assistance of Healthy Gulf and the Disaster Justice Network.
46:31
The Disaster Justice Networks Environmental Group.
46:37
Regarding the rules I offer the following comments.
46:42
The acceptable level of lead is zero. Yet regulations, allow lead into the water coming out of the taps of the residents in the low income area we serve called Poche Town in Sulphur.
47:03
40% of the residents here are below the federal poverty level. Residents have been trying to buy bottled water to have safe water after we provided residents with water testing kits and they found out but they had lead in their water along with many other contaminants.
47:16
Micah Six Eight Mission set up a public water filtering station for our residents to get safe water at no cost.
47:24
But we need the allowable level of lead in our water to be zero, not 15 not 10, but at least the five, of five ppm of bottom drinking water. Our residents can't afford testing kits, we need a way to provide them to our residents so they have good information
47:47
to make decisions about their water.
47:51
But once they know what is in their water,
47:54
we need to give them the means to remove it, as they don't have enough money to do so themselves. Hopefully by helping our city filter it out before it gets to them.
48:08
And I would really like to have the EPA website being more friendly to non-scientist folks that are trying to use it to get information so that those of us drinking the water can have access to the results on your website.
48:25
We don't need it, dumbed down, but if you can make it clear that would be very helpful.
48:32
And our test showed lead and copper in the water at the high school and throughout our community we need some help. And the problem isn't limited to our community,
48:43
it is throughout Louisiana.
48:46
Thank you for the listening to us.
49:07
[Matt Rota, Healthy Gulf] Hey, thanks for having us and thanks for having this, it's, it's super important that we are focusing on communities that have had the biggest impact with Lead and that ends up being our black and brown communities throughout the nation and in the Gulf.
49:24
I am speaking for Healthy Gulf I'm the Senior Policy Director We are an environmental advocacy organization based in New Orleans and we have staff, and, and members throughout the Gulf.
49:37
Now, this. We're currently the lead and copper rule which is and you know part of the this strategy is not adequately protective and then violates the spirit and water of the Clean Drinking Water Act passed back in 1970.
49:52
According to the Act, the Administrator shell by rule, establish recommended maximum contaminant levels for each contaminant, which may have an adverse effect on the health of persons.
50:06
As Dr. Nance said earlier today.
50:08
There is no safe level for lead every bit of lead that goes into somebody's body is harming them, and yet we still have that 15 parts per million limit on lead for drinking water and I'm speaking about drinking water, primarily through my comments.
50:25
And that is wholly unacceptable. And, one could argue that it violates the Safe Drinking Water Act.
50:34
And so, we ask that this get revisited use current science,
50:40
it should be zero.
50:43
Understanding that that is that could be difficult, at least as previous folks if instead. Let's get it down to an interim goal to five parts per million, which is what bottled water is held to so at least, let's get people that.
51:00
So, but the goal should be zero.
51:04
And as the previous speakers, said it's difficult for people to know and families to know if they have lead in their water.
51:13
And the lead testing section of the EPA website is not instructive as to how to get a free test.
51:21
So, within this strategy one thing that we would like to see is, families, and houses and homeowners and renters anybody who wants a lead test should be able to easily go to the website or call a phone number and get a lead test which they can send off
51:39
and find out what's in their drinking water. It should be that simple and free.
51:47
Likewise, we need to make sure that private wells are monitored and and they are given the tools to see if those lead in their water. And finally, I want to just say that
52:00
we applaud EPA in the fact they are trying to prioritize the most impacted communities in the, in the nation. And many of those are in the Gulf, and this needs to be stronger to make sure that we are protecting our communities.
52:18
Thank you.
52:37
[Holli Sanborn, Private Citizen] After many years of concern about high cancer rates in our area.
52:51
This started in the 1990s, a group of concerned citizens.
52:56
We were really concerned about this we obtained city funds to test for lead in our district in around 2018, 2019.
53:06
The TCEQ got involved, and found there to be levels of 30 to 61,000 parts per million along a creek that ran through the through suburban area. And it was thought that this possibly came from an old battery plant.
53:26
The EPA got involved at that time, and they're doing further testing along the creek, not in the creek but along the creek. and they started remediation
53:37
in September, 2021, and I think they are currently wrapping up, they've done a stellar job, and their efforts are greatly appreciated.
53:48
We feel there may be more contamination as we're surrounded by a lot of industry. But I just wanted to commend the EPA for what they have done, at least in our area.
54:51
[Diane Smith, Citizens for Environmental Justice Committee] We are by address the issue of lead exposure in the west Dallas community, particularly RSR another form of this systemic environmental racism, which is the new Jim Crow national collaborative based on an environmental concern. Damaged goods, as a result of living
55:12
in this toxic community where lead exposure has left its mark leaving disparities for the interface and regulation of laws has created an impact of health disparities, irreversible and irreparable damages, among families, including, women and children, and men
55:31
Broken promises. The promise for equal protection of the law against the degradation of environmental harm to live in environments conducive to that of he affluent, but promises have been broken and trust diminished.
55:48
We live a reenactment of systemic environmental racism, to another episode of tragic strategic planning, to this land contamination. Fence line communities, and get the degradation of lead exposure and trapped by status and denoted by research and science,
56:06
to the cause and effect.
56:09
1970s the NEPA was the first of the major strategic plan for environmental protection overall, but became a discriminatory act for representation of minority population and low income, creating a significant impact of the health disparities from the
56:26
lack of enforcement of law. But here
56:30
again, it's not worth the paper that was written on.
56:34
What makes this strategic plan any different from other plan? But there was no plan of action to correct the damage that has been done to the families who have imposed the lead contamination and other contaminants from the ghost factory Speaking in
56:51
regards to RSR, EPA somehow has failed, when it comes to protecting us, the rights of people of color over the 22 years since Clinton's order was issued
57:05
the 1994 executive orders basically for virtually our federal action on environmental racism in the last 26 years, but almost three decades after it was signed, pollution disparities have barely budged.
57:20
Our families live in a human sacrificial zone an ecological inter-connectedness where there was no exit.
57:30
But upper class and elite and white dominate the environmental movement and government regulators. Environmental protection seems to be a privilege of class, and race. Our committee has a strategic plan of action that we are willing to bring to the table that
57:47
will possibly eliminate many of our fellow committee members recommendations for strategically funding the entities that they feel are responsible for the degradation of human life with no exclusions on an environmental scorecard for minus zero to zero, we must
58:09
rate ourselves. Thank you.
58:31
[Dr. Kathy Tatum, Collaborating Voices Foundation] Good evening. Thank you. This is Dr. Kathy Tatum in Houston, Texas, with Collaborating Voices and several other organizations. I represent a lot of minority nonprofits over 300 in Texas and 25,000 across the United States, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and Africa.
58:52
It's not that hard to find minority lead nonprofits. Unfortunately when things happen, and also funding we seem to never seem to get anyone that's minority lead.
59:04
And I bring that up because even when you go on there and you see that we're meeting, and we are the face of commercials, brochures and things that are happening in our neighborhoods.
59:16
It seems that we never get that funding because we don't understand how to fill out the funding. I don't know if we need to get together and train the trainer or make it more simple, because at the end of the day, it's all connected.
59:31
Even with crime, domestic violence, veteran housing, homelessness. I for 21 years have been in property management apartments in residential all across the United States.
59:43
I know how hard it is to convince a management to do more for lead and also rehab.
59:50
They don't the city's turns around and says it's privately owned the owner say, well, they can't do nothing about it, it comes to a time where if we're going to really do something.
60:02
Come to me. I can give you a nonprofit in every city, and let us do something. Every time something happens in the city, there's a press conference. Here comes the politicians.
60:13
Then I see the email goes out that we gave it to all the city.
60:17
If we take every nonprofit that's in this inner city, and we write a grant for our schools and replace our schools. Wouldn't it be better to get together and say, guess what I wrote a grant for this school.
60:31
And we actually put you know things at the school replace some things that the school. I see in our cities.
60:38
They said we don't have any funding, but yet we've cut down trees, and all of a sudden we got the best schools, the best houses. I've talked to the police department and the fire department, they are sitting in old buildings, and every time they said
60:52
we are the fire department fire marshal, and our buildings are old, we can't get any help. So I'm asking you if I'm going to be on this call, and I'm going to represent anybody,
61:04
I should be able to get funding, every organization that showed up to a meeting and spoke for other people we should be on the funding list. And if we are not what's the point?
61:16
We have to do better. And I will give you example of one of the organizations, or business. We have a actual mortuary here in Houston, Texas, black owned, they have actually turned down and actually closed their doors at the crematory because they
61:33
need a 200,000 retort chamber, so that it won't have pollute their own community. They've looked at the grant list. They don't know how to fill it out.
61:43
So I'm asking each and every one of y'all, if we're truly going to work together in the black community and the brown community. How about black lead nonprofits.
61:53
We're tired of other colors, getting the money, and we got to beg for collaboration. We're tired of it. So thank you so much. If you need another board member, if you need another spokesperson, I want,
62:05
I actually want funding. I will write grants for the schools, but teach us how to do it. Let it not be difficult, because if it is crime and everything in our communities are going up, is not going down.
65:11
[Dr. Earthea Nance, EPA Regional Administrator, Region 6] I want to thank the audience, the members who are here from the communities.
65:18
I am in my second month
65:22
as the Regional Administrator.
65:26
I'm on this side now.
65:29
And I was touched, especially the residents who talked about the lack of equal protection.
65:37
The fact that damages have been done.
65:40
And that folks feel like they are sacrifice zones, that was a moving, it's to hear that from people is moving.
65:49
And I wanted to acknowledge that.
65:52
I also heard that we need
65:56
prevention, mitigation and regulation. That we know this is a deadly problem.
66:04
We could be providing filters,
66:07
free tests access, to testing and filtering.
66:13
The maximum contaminant level, this is probably a moment where we can push for that.
66:18
Moving that down to five parts per million to make it equal to, bottled water.
66:23
And then I heard several people talking about the website, and the grant application process as being just too confusing and not clear.
66:36
So the this I've taken notes as you talk because I, I learned a lot, and I'm going to take this back to my office and start working on these things because these ideas are, you know, they seem obvious we shouldn't be doing these things.
66:54
I'm a little bit ashamed that, that it's at this level, where people are you know years have gone by.
67:01
We know that lead is problem, Howard Mielke who didn't speak but I saw his name on the list is one of the experts who was responsible for a move removing lead from gasoline, years ago back in the 70s.
67:14
And here we are still dealing with lead.
67:17
So, I really appreciate all the input.
67:22
This has been recorded.
67:24
This will be available widely. And I have taken my own notes, so that I can hopefully move on these ideas, and all these needs. So thank you again.
74:41
[Chance Rushing, Private Citizen] All right, thank you for holding this discussion and opening up for comments. I work for a state agency in the Office of Water in Region 6 on the lead and copper rule.
74:51
But I am speaking today is just a concerned citizen.
74:55
And also I want to provide a resource to one of the commenters but I want to ask that the EPA work with existing state in community programs including in Texas, we have the Voluntary Lead Testing in Schools Program, and also incorporate state drinking
75:10
water database lead and copper data, which has already existed for decades, which can help, target or assist with targeting already known high-risk communities.
75:19
We have decades of data and in a lot of it will will really point to the communities that are having the biggest issues some communities have never really had an issue in the state and we have a large state but cooperation and collaboration is going to
75:31
be key here. And as we get closer to implementation of the lead and copper rule revision all community systems are gonna have to inventory their service lines public and private any way, as you well know, including lead in non lead service lines and
75:45
all schools will also be required to test for lead and drinking water over a five year period.
75:51
It can be sped up in our state we're allowing some schools to, or some systems to test all schools in a shorter period of time.
76:00
But this offers really a great opportunity for collaboration and targeted remediation.
76:05
I'd also request or recommend you know transparency for when elevated blood levels are with lead blood levels are located or reported to coordinate with state agencies and particularly Water Agency programs to help us inventory and, you know, provide
76:22
corrosion control or remediation activities while the lead removal process commences.
76:28
Lastly, I want to thank all the speakers and I'd really like to echo the urgency, being communicated.
76:34
The reality is this is overdue. I think everyone on this call has the intention to to really give it our all this is, is something that everyone on this call is aware of and working towards diligently to remediate.
76:47
But we owe it to ourselves and to all citizens to act as quickly as possible. the best available science is available.
76:54
I recommend we use partnerships with the private sector, community organizations such as nonprofits as we heard third party consultants, I mean we're gonna have to distribute a massive amount of point of views devices, and this has to be done quickly
77:08
when when problems are detected.
77:11
Ideally funding for that can can be set aside.
77:15
It needs to be, you know, targeted for the high risk communities we're talking about lifelong damage here, and we just we have to do better. I think this is a great step this conversation to the Reverend from Houston, please reach out to the city utility
77:28
and to PWSLCR at TCQDXAS.gov. If you're still on, I'd love to speak with you and to Dr. Kathy Tatum, I think she communicated extremely important issue.
77:41
You don't choose where you're born or when you're born or how you're born in, and you know we we owe it to ourselves. I'll leave it with one quote here.
77:49
"Those who have the privilege to know have the duty to act, we're all in this together", and I look forward to taking the next step. Thank you for your time.
78:16
[Yolanda Blue Horse, Memnosyne Institute] I'm part of the Rose Bud Tribe up in South Dakota, but I live down here and Texas.
78:22
And we all as an indigenous person. We all experience
78:28
things that have gone wrong with our land.
78:31
And you just put it in perspective of, you know, we,
78:37
this is our land, and to take care of this land.
78:42
This is all we've ever done.
78:45
And I've seen you know New Mexico in the uranium digging, even back up in South Dakota and I know this, not this, not this region.
78:55
But the digging
78:57
of uranium.
78:59
You're killing, it's killing people
79:03
and that's not what this land is supposed to be about.
79:08
We weren't given this planet, we were given Mother Earth,
79:13
and we have to treat it as such. If not, we're going to lose it. You know I'm proud. I'm glad to be part of this conversation, but people have to start waking up to what we're going to lose.
79:30
And, you know, we, we all have different aspects of what it's hurting us and everything like that.
79:39
But we have to think about,
79:41
and EPA can help us with that.
79:44
Look at what you're doing to land, even with that wall we're going to fund the Texas border here.
79:49
You're killing so many different.
79:53
I'm not you, but they're killing so many different things.
80:00
It's important for us to realize as an indigenous person.
80:05
And as I explained to you all.
80:08
We have to keep this planet. That's all we have. But keep in mind as we don't have a large voice indigenous people never have a large voice.
80:19
I'm glad I was able to speak tonight. So thank you, I appreciate it.
80:54
[Cynthia Robertson, Micah Six Eight Mission] Okay, thank you. I know I talked too much so y'all just bear with me. But one thing that concerns me is that as we are going through and doing the lead and copper regulation
81:13
revamp. Should we also not be looking at other secondary contaminants and just do a fell swoop on all of it. Well, That was one thing and the other thing is I want to echo something I heard that I had not thought about in this regard but have been thinking
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about.
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I know that we have a lot of problems that probably have been caused by the lead the manganese the copper The, the, the, the plethora of things that are in our contaminants in our water here and Sulphur.
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And is there any way we can get the data on the testing I know that Medicaid children have been tested and Medicare folks have been tested. Is there any way we can get overall data on these contaminants in our citizens bodies, so that we can see what
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effect it is actually having on our population. I've been looking for that and haven't been able to find it. So, that's all. Thank you.
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[Dr. Kathy Tatum, Collaborating Voices Foundation] I just have a follow up, I did hear her say that she made a lot of notes, and this is recorded but I will love to know, is there a working group on filling out the grants of train the trainer.
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I would love to know how many do we even have a survey of how many black or minority ran nonprofits that money has gone to, and I would love to know the statistic like if there's a follow up, like me, I'm, I'm literally saying, I will love to learn how
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to fill out these forms, step by step, to go back and maybe we can get a working group and say, in your community, how many schools will be hit, how many testing kits will be just like the covert testing kits there's on every corner every bodies testing
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for covid where we can set up a community effort, when people come to test themselves being our communities. And like I said, we have to have some kind of follow up and not just a meeting so if there is some kind of way to email me or organize this to
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go even further like the young lady said, How can we go further on the testing kits and not give the money just to the city, but nonprofits, so we can report back to you, and the pictures and what we have done.
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I don't know if that's in place at this time. If not, please put that on the agenda. Thank you. 
[Dr. Earthea Nance, EPA Regional Administrator, Region 6] Dr. Tatum, the reason I'm taking notes, I have the ability
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to set up, training, if you could leave your email address in the chat, so that I can, I can have my staff contact you to get trained on writing grants, so that you know we can we can solve that.
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And then I try to set up something in general for, you know, for everybody to us, but that is definitely something that I can, I can fix.
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[Linda Snider, Private Citizen] Okay, I just want to make a few comments, um, it's not so much a question but it would be wonderful if I could just go over a couple of things. One is, um, I'm in Corpus Christi, Texas. Sorry, I forgot my little light, um, one of the things we were able to do because I'm a member of the League of Women Voters was to be able to work with our local utilities water department city water department, and they created recently a program for
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people that requested it, they would provide test kits, particularly in older areas of the town to determine if there was lead in the water at no charge to the citizen.
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So that's number one. Number two is we're doing an actual in April. We meaning the league is doing a work, a lead in drinking water workshop in Austin for the state convention.
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And the purpose of that is to let other towns know what we did in a multi-year study.
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And what we what we've learned from that study, and also ways we can get other people involved, whether they're in the league or not does not matter. It's a matter of citizens.
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Getting involved. We had to get every and from everything for the study we had to actually get through the through the public information request, it was not provided.
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It wasn't easy to get the numbers of children that were had elevated lead levels. We went by the State Department of Health Statistics and discovered in the process that our city and county local health departments did not have, there was a disconnect
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between the local and the state, which is still a problem.
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We also determined that there were
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sometimes disinfectants when there's other contaminants in the water.
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Those disinfectants can cause their own potentially cause other problems with loosening up corrosion in old pipes. So there's lots of information that is out there.
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But there's,
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Oh, the other thing I really wanted to mention is the biggest problem we have isn't, we know we're not the highest problem, we're not we're not a Flint, Michigan.
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On the other hand, like everyone is saying we don't see any reason why we need to be at that 15 ppb why we can't be at least like everybody mentioned the bottle of water level.
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The problem with it not being at that level, at this time, is what we're told locally, is that the.
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They are doing the letter of the law, the water system is doing exactly what they're supposed to be doing. So in other words, if that lower, if that level stays at that high level.
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There's no real motivation for them to do more.
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We also want to do something, because we know that the most vulnerable. It said before, but I don't know I haven't heard it here today is the infants.
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The children under six will say, under the younger children, the, the infants and the women of age.
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childbearing age. In other words, people that are pregnant or nursing and the daycares, there's so many areas where we need to give more attention, and really pay attention to what's, what's in our own communities.
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So we're just one small group, and one small in one town.
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But I would really like to see more collaboration with these issues. Thank you.
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[Cynthia Robertson, Micah Six Eight Mission] Hi, again, I just want to just support what Linda said when we brought our problems here in Sulphur, to the mayor.
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He said that our water was safe according to the Louisiana Department of Health who follows yalls, and they follow your guidelines to a tee.
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You know, it's like we've got 14 parts per billion instead of 15 so we're good to go.
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That, you know, you have to change the regulated levels, so that we can have progress in our communities. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you, Cindy.
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[Diane Smith, Citizens For Environmental Justice Committee] Hi, I'm Diane Smith.
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Citizens for Environment Justice Coalition, I spoke earlier.
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I'm kind of confused about one thing. I received an email from your office in regards to attending this meeting, and it has on here, the stakeholders, which is RSR with I have an interest in the, in RSR.
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Okay, and strategic planning in reducing the lead exposure and the disparity in the, in the community.
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Now, then I looked at the fact sheet with the EPA was developing a strategy, focusing on eliminating disparities and childhood exposures.
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And they said, for example, black children, and those from low income households have the system and be found, higher levels of non Hispanic white children.
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And so from her income household.
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So that led me to believe that this was pretty well.
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Statistically, based around these two issues. And this is why I brought in the areas of concern at the meeting. So, are we still focusing on the disparities in the low income community that is affecting minorities because it's, it's proven through research.
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and every other aspect that this is the main topic of concern and minorities seem to suffer more of the toxic contamination.
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About the allowance of industry is being able to infiltrate their communities, than any other race of people. And my question is, still, to this date. How is this new strategy going to work
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in the communities when this has been going on for so long.
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Is the new strategy going to be directed towards reducing the exposures, and we still have a plant out there that has some form of lead contamination, on the property. I'm really confused, but I really don't understand
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how the lead is leaked. Because if we're going to it. We all know the children, one day become adult and those same children.
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Have a right to life, just like the family says, In the end, that, and the overall,
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And overall adverse effects, especially the academic and and and and the ADHD and when you go from the prison from the cradle to the prison syndrome, and it's just so much that affects our children and our community.
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It's just like we've been placed in an environmental genocide, and it disturbs me because it doesn't seem to be getting any better.
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So I don't know if I was suited for this particular meeting, because it seems as though I'm on a different page.
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And if I am on a different page or if I'm not on a different page, then maybe you could help me to get on the same page that you're on.
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[Dr. Earthea Nance, EPA Regional Administrator, Region 6] Thank you for those comments. And yes, we are on the same page on the very first day, President Biden signed an Executive Order for Environmental Justice, which directed all of the federal government to pay attention to the issues that you just brought
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up.
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Now, we're not going to use the same language that you were using just them.
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But we have to we have been up you know appointed in order to follow those who are most in need.
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Those who have the most health impacts, and that that does follow racial lines, socio economic lines. And so that's what we're finding the most need is is in a black and brown communities, and in poor communities.
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And so that's what we are going to be doing. we have to figure out how to do that.