Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett advise to wear facemasks to prevent COVID-19 Delta spread, but failed to say bring your own drinking freshwater bottle to avoid lead poisoning.
By H. Nelson Goodson
Hispanic News Network U.S.A.
July 21, 2021
Milwaukee, WI - Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett announced a plan to hold a Milwaukee Bucks NBA Championship parade in downtown Thursday, July 22, 2021 and those who plan to attend to wear facemasks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 Delta, which has been on the rise in the last two weeks. City employees will be allowed to attend the Bucks parade.
The Bucks parade will begin at 11:00a.m. at the intersection of E. Wisconsin Avenue and N. Prospect Avenue. The parade will then proceed west on E. Wisconsin Avenue before turning north onto N. Water Street. From there, the route will continue on N. Water Street to E. Knapp Street before ending on E. Knapp Street at the Milwaukee River.
What Barrett didn't mention was that the City of Milwaukee has more than 70,000 toxic freshwater lead laterals connected to homes and businesses. Barrett failed to advise the Bucks fans that they should bring their own bottled water to drink as a safety precaution and avoid drinking Milwaukee water from a faucet.
Public drinking water faucets and bubblers in the City of Milwaukee are not publicly label as lead free from toxic lead lateral connection to the City water mains.
The City of Milwaukee is apparently removing 1,000 toxic lead laterals per year and it would take more than 70 years to finally remove all of the lead laterals.
With a lack of the Milwaukee Department of Health services for those suffering from lead poisoning and the lack of lead testing, it is nearly impossible to detect the actual lead poisoning of young children in the City and the lead poisoning of adult generations within our City.
Milwaukee residents test at least 3.5 times higher for lead than the national average.
On July 16, 2021, the Freshwater for Life Action Coalition (FLAC), Get The Lead Out (GTLO) including, Robert Miranda, a community activist, The Black Panthers, The Milwaukee Brown Berets and Yellow Panthers were in Madison to call on Josh Kaul, the Wisconsin Attorney General to release an update of the current criminal investigation against City officials and the Milwaukee Department of Health for a lack of accountability and not providing adequate health services for those poisoned by lead in the City including the troubled lead program operated by the Health Department.
Also, last week at the Public Safety & Health Committee confirmed that an independent auditor reported that the Milwaukee Department of Health did not implement plans, protocols, policy changes to improve the health department, indicating that Mayor Barrett had continued to lied about the City's lead program.
Lead poisoning has been linked to high crimes in cities that continue to use toxic lead laterals.
According to a June 16, 2016 memorandum from Kate Pawasarat, Community Analytics Analyst for the City of Milwaukee Department of Administration Budget and Management Division, she reported the following information.
There are approximately 74,600 properties with lead service lines in the City of Milwaukee.
• Based on property assessment class information, 91.5% of properties with lead service lines are residential.
• Approximately 68,300 residential properties or 54.2% of all residential properties in the City of Milwaukee have lead service lines.
For over twenty years Milwaukee has added a phosphorous compound to its drinking water. The compound coats pipes to control lead corrosion, but recent concerns regarding heavy construction around the city has brought to light that this protective phosphorous compound is being loosened by the pounding of machines breaking apart sidewalks and streets in which many of these toxic lead pipes are located.
The following Milwaukee Southside Aldermanic Districts are among seven with the most toxic lead laterals in homes.
• Aldermanic District 15 - Alderman Tony Zielinski, toxic lead laterals in district 6,089
• Aldermanic District 12 - Alderman José G. Pérez, toxic lead laterals in district 5,585
• Aldermanic District 10 - Alderman Michael Murphy, toxic lead laterals in district 9,166
• Aldermanic District 8 - Alderman Bob Donovan, toxic lead laterals in district 6,361
Total toxic lead laterals located in Milwaukee's Southside 27,201
Hispanic News Network U.S.A. (HNNUSA) has learned that Milwaukee residents in the City of Milwaukee can no longer be able to search for properties with lead pipe laterals by address since, the City link for freshwater lead laterals connected to residences and businesses has been disabled by the City.
Milwaukee surrounding suburbs with toxic lead laterals (Source: WISN):
• 90% of the homes in Shorewood
• 32% of homes in South Milwaukee
• 30% of homes in Cudahy
• 38% of homes (19K) in West Allis
• 65% of homes (15K) in Wauwatosa
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