Pa. Attorney General files 161 criminal charges against PWSA over lead levels in water

(Pittsburgh) — Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Friday that he filed 161 criminal charges against the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority relating to lead levels in the water exceeding legal limits.

A press release from Shapiro’s office says that the PWSA created health risks after failing to tell residents when it has replaced lead water lines. Shapiro also says the authority didn’t sample those replacement lines within the legally required time frame.

“Pennsylvanians have a constitutional right to clean air and pure water – I’m here to defend that,” Shapiro said.

The authority could face fines of $12,000 per violation.

Testing from December showed that PWSA was still out of compliance with federal standards for lead in drinking water. More than 10 percent of the 161 homes sampled had lead levels above the EPA threshold of 15 parts per billion.

PWSA officials said last month the authority planned to start using a new chemical, orthophosphate, to prevent lead from pipes from leeching into the water. Executive Director Bob Weimar has said that the chemical will be more effective than current corrosion control measures.

The authority had originally hoped to begin adding orthophospate to water in August 2018, however that plan was not approved by the state Department of Environmental Protection until September 2018.

The office began its investigation in Oct 2017 after receiving a criminal referral from the PA Department of Environmental Protection

— Margaret J. Krauss (@MargaretKrauss) February 1, 2019

In an emailed statement, Weimar said he was “deeply disappointed” by Shapiro’s decision to file charges and that some of the actions had already been addressed in a 2017 civil settlement with the DEP.

“We self-reported the issues to DEP, agreed to a civil penalty of $2.4 million, and have since established one of the most comprehensive lead service line replacement programs in the nation. We have cooperated with DEP and addressed the issues covered by the civil settlement. Additional fines related to these previous missteps would only divert ratepayer dollars that would otherwise be used for critical water quality improvement projects and programs. We will defend these charges.”

According to the EPA, there is no safe level of lead in water.

90.5 WESA reporter Liz Reid contributed to this report.