Intro

Lead pipes in South Side Chicago neighborhoods are contaminating residents' water with concerning levels of lead. Health agencies believe no level of lead is safe, but legislation to remove the pipes hasn't been enacted. Instead, residents were advised to run their water for five minutes before consuming it. The issue disproportionately affects black and Latinx residents. Hi, my name is Cy Hennings, and I'm here with my lovely friend and fellow theologian, Alice. Hi, I'm Alice Berner, and we're here today to discuss a very serious environmental justice issue that's currently affecting many people in the South Side of Chicago. Many South Side neighborhoods still have lead pipes installed, and they are contaminating residents' water with concerning levels of lead. Is any level of lead safe for people to consume in their water? I mean, personally, I wouldn't think so, and I wouldn't want to consume any lead. What are your thoughts? You know, I feel the same way, and I can't say I'm a scientist of any sort, but that just doesn't sound like it'd be healthy. Many health agencies have stated that they believe that no level of lead is safe, and even the low levels could cause health problems down the road. But this has not pushed legislation in Chicago to hurry and remove these lead pipes from these communities. Instead, the residents were told to let their water run for five minutes every day before consuming it in hopes to eliminate the risk of consuming lead. Wow, that's kind of crazy that that's the only solution, and they're not pushing any legislation in Chicago, even if it's such a big health concern. Studies have also found that nine of the top ten zip codes with the largest percentages of high test results were in neighborhoods with the majority of black and Latinx residents. So this is disproportionately affecting those groups of people.