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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 8, 2017)
November 8, 2017 The Skanner Page 9 Portland’s Water Exceeds Limits on Lead Water bureau is implementing strategy by 2022 to lower lead levels By The Skanner News T “ Ideally, all of our customers’ household plumbing fi xtures would be lead-free, but they aren’t Lead can cause seri- ous health problems, especially for pregnant people and children six years and younger. In Portland, home plumbing such as faucets or lead-based solder can contain lead, which is then released into water through corrosive action of water passing through pipes. The city receives its water through the Bull Run watershed which, according to the water bureau, treats drinking water by raising its pH level to make it less cor- rosive. October’s testing is the third time in fi ve years that the city has sur- passed federal limits on lead in water. Advocates say women are ‘fi nally taking their power’ By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK — In the three weeks since the string of allegations against Harvey Wein- stein fi rst began, an ongoing domino eff ect has tumbled through not just Hollywood but at least a dozen other industries. It’s open season on open secrets. PHOTO BY PAUL GOYETTE he Portland Water Bureau recently released a report from its twice-a- year testing for lead in water at 134 high-risk homes – and the results have raised eyebrows. The fi gures showed that 18 (or 13 percent) of these homes – known to have lead solder in their plumbing – had lead-in- water levels that exceed the federal limits. Test results showed that the lead levels were 17 parts per billion, over the limit of 15 parts per billion. If more than 10 percent of high-risk homes ex- ceed the state limit, the water bureau must noti- fy the public with strate- gies to lower levels. News As Veil of Silence Falls, Weinstein Eff ect Keeps Growing “Ideally, all of our customers’ household plumbing fi xtures would be lead-free, but they aren’t,” said Portland Water Bureau director Michael Stuhr in a state- ment. “This is why we are making improvements to our system to further reduce the potential for lead at our customers’ taps.” The results prompted the Portland City Coun- cil to authorize the wa- ter bureau’s corrosion control treatment – to be in place by spring 2022 – to help curb the levels of lead in drinking water. The Portland Water Bureau and regional pro- viders recommend the following easy steps that customers can take now to reduce exposure to lead in water: 1. Run water to fl ush the lead out. If the water has not been used for several hours, run each tap for 30 sec- onds to two minutes or until it becomes colder before drink- ing or cooking. This simple step can re- duce lead in water up to 90 percent or more. 2. Use cold, fresh water for cooking and pre- paring baby formula. Do not cook with or drink water from the hot water tap; lead dissolves more easily into hot water. Do not use water from the Make The Skanner part of your daily routine hot water tap to make baby formula. 3. Do not boil water to remove lead. Boiling water will not reduce lead. 4. Test children for lead. Ask a physician or call the LeadLine to fi nd out how to have aa child tested for lead. A blood lead level test is the only way to know if a child is being ex- posed to lead. 5. Test your water for lead. Call the Lead- Line at 503-988-4000 to fi nd out how to get a FREE lead-in-water test. 6. Consider using a fi l- ter. Check whether it reduces lead -- not all fi lters do. Be sure to maintain and replace a fi lter device in accor- dance with the man- ufacturer’s instruc- tions to protect water quality. Contact NSF International at 800- NSF-8010 or www.nsf. org for information on performance stan- dards for water fi lters. 7. Regularly clean the faucet aerator. Parti- cles containing lead from solder or house- hold plumbing can become trapped in faucet aerators. Reg- ularly cleaning every few months will re- move these particles and reduce the expo- sure to lead. 8. Consider buying low- lead fi xtures. As of 2014, all pipes, fi ttings and fi xtures are re- quired to contain less than 0.25% lead. When buying new fi xtures, consumers should seek out those with the lowest lead content. “ fi lmmaker Brett Rat- ner. (Weinstein has denied all allegations of non-consensual sex, while Ratner has de- nied each allegation against him.) Her so- cial-media avatar is a simple photo of herself, with a fi st raised high. The posture and lan- guage of revolution has been adopted by others, too, like actress Rose More than anything what made me want to come for- ward is: I felt like fi nally people were listening Nearly every day has brought new alle- gations of sexual ha- rassment, assault or misconduct, and subse- quent fi rings, dismiss- als or the distancing of men in various stations of power, from highly regarded media pun- dits to celebrity chefs. “There is no turning back,” Asia Argento said Wednesday on Twitter. “All predators will go down.” Argento, the Italian fi lmmaker and actress who has said Weinstein raped her, declared that shortly aft er alle- gations of sexual ha- rassment were leveled by six women against McGowan, another al- leged victim of sexual assault by Weinstein. At last week’s Women’s Convention in Detroit, McGowan declared: “Join me. Join all of us!” What’s unfolding, women’s rights advo- cates say, is a rolling reckoning that’s gain- ing steam with every new revelation of sex- ual harassment. What began with just a hand- ful of women standing up against one of Hol- lywood’s most pugna- cious power players has turned into a move- ment of its own. Now that some of the silenc- es and stigmas around See WEINSTEIN on page 10
