Allegheny County controller is criticizing the Allegheny County Health Department, accusing the department of downplaying the dangers of lead contamination in Pittsburgh’s water supply.
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Controller Chelsea Wagner released an audit on Tuesday, saying the Health Department uses a flawed system that undercounts the number of children with elevated levels of lead in their blood.
Wagner also alleged the Health Department made misleading statements to downplay the dangers and deflect attention from the seriousness of the problem.
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“No public health agency should act this way. And particularly when they are faced with accounts of children with high levels of lead in their blood,” Wagner said.
A Virginia Tech engineer who helped uncover the lead contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan, spoke alongside Wagner on Tuesday.
“I really do question the motives of anyone who downplays lead in water health risks, especially the levels of lead we're currently seeing in Pittsburgh,” Marc Edward said.
The Health Department responded to the audit, saying it "reaches faulty conclusions and is fraught with inaccuracies. This is a misleading and biased and potentially dangerous use of public health information that creates fear and confusion.”
“The way that she used data was something very unfamiliar to us,” Dr. Karen Hecker, director of the Health Department, said.
The Pittsburgh City Council voted on Tuesday to allow the city to work with the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority to replace private lead lines while the PWSA is doing work on connecting lines.
The funding to replace private lead lines still must be worked out.
Stay with Channel 11 News and WPXI.com for continuing coverage.
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