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Former U.S. attorney to head probe into WASA lead problems
(Published March 8, 2004)

By MELISSA FERRARA
Staff Writer

With Congress and D.C. City Council both poised to begin their own investigations, the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority Board of Directors announced March 4 that it has hired former deputy attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr. and his law firm to review the agency staff’s handling of water sampling and public notification of problems.

Holder, a former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, "will have free rein" to conduct his investigation of management decisions and actions related to the finding of elevated lead levels in tap water at some D.C. homes, according to WASA board chairman Glenn S. Gerstell.

"We want to put to rest any questions the public may have and to restore public confidence in WASA," Gerstell said.

WASA’s 11-member board approved the hiring of Holder’s law firm, Covington & Burling, at its monthly meeting. The board also hired Kathryn Newcomer, director of George Washington University’s School of Public Policy and Administration and an expert in public administration, and Dr. Lynn R. Goldman, a pediatrician and an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, to be part of the investigation that Holder will lead.

"Their expertise will help insure the review is thorough and looks at the issues of government agency cooperation and public health dimension at all levels," Gerstell said.

Holder, Newcomer and Goldman "will examine WASA’s actions regarding elevated levels of lead in the District water supply and will include a review of WASA’s compliance with all applicable laws; how the board and management team executed their duties and responsibilities; and whether WASA’s communications and interaction with the Environmental Protection Agency, the D.C. Department of Health, its customers, and other external organizations were appropriate," a press release issued by WASA said.

The investigation is expected to be completed and its results published in 60 days.

Meanwhile, D.C. City Council voted March 2 to authorize its Committee on Public Works and the Environment, chaired by At-Large Councilwoman Carol Schwartz, to launch its own investigation into the handling of elevated lead levels in some D.C. water.

The Government Reform Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives also announced its own hearing on March 5 to examine the role of federal agencies in the lead contamination of water in D.C. and two Northern Virginia communities that also draw their tap water from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Washington Aqueduct.

The hearing, requested last month by D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, was chaired by U.S. Rep. Tom Davis of Fairfax.

Representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Washington Aqueduct and WASA discussed "the origins of the water crisis, health risks and remedies, whether the drinking water is properly monitored and protected, and the adequacy of federal regulations concerning lead in drinking water," according to Norton’s office. Also testifying were representatives from the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Water agency officials still are trying to determine what caused lead levels in tap water at about 4,000 D.C. homes to exceed the federally mandated maximum of 15 parts per billion in water sampling tests last year.

While officials have focused their concerns on about 23,000 single-family homes in the District that still receive their water through antiquated lead service lines, recent tests conducted in Arlington County found some homes without lead service lines have water with high lead levels.

WASA continues to offer additional information about lead in water and free water testing kits to residents who request one by calling (202) 787-2732.