Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Newark Residents Promised Bottled Water Over Worries Of Dangerous Lead In Public System
The Associated Press: EPA: Newark Should Provide Bottled Water Due To Lead
The governor of New Jersey and the mayor of Newark have vowed to provide bottled water to city residents with lead service lines after tests indicate filters may not be protecting them against elevated lead levels. Gov. Phil Murphy and Mayor Ras Baraka said, however, in a statement Sunday evening that the city and state “will need support and assistance from the federal government” to provide and distribute water to affected residents. And the Democratic leaders said long-term water distribution could affect the city’s corrosion control treatment launched in May, since for the system to work properly residents must keep city water flowing through their pipes. (8/11)
The New York Times: In Echo Of Flint Lead Crisis, Newark Offers Bottled Water
For more than a year, Newark officials denied the city had a widespread lead problem with its drinking water. Then, in an abrupt shift last fall, New Jersey’s largest city began giving out water filters to some residents. On Sunday — two days after a scathing letter from the E.P.A. raised concerns about the safety of the city’s drinking water — officials said they would start offering bottled water to residents.(Fitzsimmons, 8/11)
NPR: No Safe Drinking Water On Reservation Leaves Thousands Improvising
The Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Central Oregon has been without safe drinking water all summer, and some people have no running water at all. In May, a burst pipe led to a cascade of infrastructure failures. That leaves around 4,000 people improvising for survival. ... The [ad-hoc water distribution] center runs on donations, and it might distribute 3,000 gallons of water a day, plus other supplies like bleach wipes, plastic plates, utensils, and commodes, said Danny Martinez, emergency manager for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. (Cureton, 8/10)
The New York Times: Summer In The City Is Hot, But Some Neighborhoods Suffer More
As the United States suffers through a summer of record-breaking heat, new research shows that temperatures on a scorching summer day can vary as much as 20 degrees across different parts of the same city, with poor or minority neighborhoods often bearing the brunt of that heat. “The heat island effect is often characterized as the city being hotter than surrounding rural areas,” said Vivek Shandas, a professor of urban studies and planning at Portland State University, who led heat mapping projects across the country with help from community volunteers. “We’re saying it’s a little more complicated than that.” (8/9)
The Associated Press: EPA Won't Approve Warning Labels For Roundup Chemical
The Trump administration says it won’t approve warning labels for products that contain glyphosate, a move aimed at California as it fights one of the world’s largest agriculture companies about the potentially cancer-causing chemical. California requires warning labels on glyphosate products — widely known as the weed killer Roundup — because the International Agency for Research on Cancer has said it is “probably carcinogenic.” The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency disagrees, saying its research shows the chemical poses no risks to public health. (Beam, 8/9)
