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Dear Friend –
Should the EPA get the lead out of drinking water in government day care centers?
Let me know what you think:
Get the Lead Out!
Unsafe Water at Government Day Care Centers Endangers Children’s Health
Don’t drink the water!
That’s my advice if you’re visiting a government building anytime soon.
Despite the Biden-Harris administration’s promise that “every American should be able to turn on the tap and drink clean, safe water,” this government “cannot ensure water in its buildings is safe.” Those are the shocking findings of a series of reviews the General Services Administration (GSA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted over the past several years.
In fact, it’s safer to drink water out of a tap in Flint, Michigan today than from the faucet in many government buildings.
 It’s safer to drink water out of a tap in Flint, Michigan today than from the faucet in many government buildings.
The troubled waters are flowing from gross mismanagement, causing gross consequences.
Mass teleworking by Biden’s bureaucrats is allowing dangerous contaminants to fester, and the GSA’s own water safety guidance is flawed.
While bureaucrats complain that following water safety rules is “a large task,” the problem is really a result of their failure to do the bare minimum: show up for work. “The current reduced building occupancy levels can lead to water stagnation, which provides ideal conditions for the growth and spread of Legionella and increases the likelihood that other buildings may be contaminated,” according to the GSA OIG.
This summer, the headquarters of at least two federal agencies—the Federal Trade Commission and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services—were evacuated due to unsafe water. It’s a vicious cycle. The buildings were left abandoned since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused water contamination that is resulting in the buildings being vacated once again to avoid health threats being caused by underutilization.
As a result, those who are showing up are being put at risk.
Employees and visitors to government offices serving veterans, senior citizens, and the disabled may have been unwittingly exposed to harmful bacteria and metals, such as lead and copper, in the water for months before warnings were issued. At least one person who worked in an affected building has been diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease.
But most concerning, children in the government’s child care centers are being allowed to drink unsafe water. The Biden-Harris administration did not even test the water before reopening child care centers, and then waited months—and even years—to get around to checking for contaminants in the water after reopening. When they finally got around to doing testing, high levels of lead and copper were detected in government buildings across the country.
 The Biden-Harris administration allowed children at day care centers in government buildings to drink unsafe water containing dangerous amounts of metals.
Even small amounts of lead can be harmful, especially to children. Yet, the Biden-Harris administration allowed weeks to pass before sharing the results with most of the child care centers. “During these delays, the water outlets in the child care centers remained operational,” according to the OIG. A child care center where alarmingly high levels of lead were detected remained operational for more than two years after the center was re-opened, and then for another two months after samples were collected.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) even has offices in one of the buildings with a day care center where high levels of lead were present in the water.
While ignoring the dangerous metals and bacteria in the government’s own drinking water, the Biden-Harris administration was attempting to use the Clean Water Act to put 97 percent of the land in Iowa under the control of the EPA. The Supreme Court threw cold water on the power grab, unanimously rejecting the EPA’s regulatory overreach.
For focusing on the water in ditches in Iowa instead of the dirty water children are drinking in government day care centers, I am giving my August 2024 Squeal Award to the EPA.
The Biden-Harris administration needs to get the lead out, literally. We cannot allow another Flint water crisis to occur inside government buildings. That is why I am calling on the EPA to take immediate action ensuring children and public servants are no longer being endangered by unsafe water resulting from neglected government buildings.
Squeal Award: Environmental Protection Agency
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Thank you!
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