Lead testing project proactive, not reactive

Luckily for Berlin — and every other government in Maryland that supplies drinking water to residents — the state Department of Environment says any lead found in water delivered through publicly-owned systems would be insignificant by Environmental Protection Agency standards.

And that’s if any lead at all is found, as the town tests its supply lines and the property owner-provided connections they feed. Why, then, is the town about to undertake such as massive project? Because it and the operators of every other publicly owned system in the state are required to do this as a precautionary measure, and not as a mission to fix known problems.

There is nothing wrong with being sure, since having just some lead in drinking water can’t be dismissed as no big deal. On the contrary, lead’s presence at certain levels can be devastating to human health, as Flint, Michigan learned 10 years ago, when residents there learned that their drinking water was severely contaminated with lead and other toxins.

That put thousands of children at risk for developmental disorders and left adults to face the possibility of equally severe health problems. Moreover, even though Flint’s problem was diagnosed in 2015, it was only this past July — 10 years later — that Michigan and Flint finally declared the city’s water lead-free.

Berlin and Flint, of course, have nothing in common. Unlike Flint, Berlin has the state in its corner and Maryland, unlike Michigan, is being proactive rather than reactive as it directs these just-in-case examinations. In addition, if any lead contamination of drinking water is found, health experts agree that the most likely source would be old fittings and installations on private property.

That certainly qualifies as good news, tied in as this project is with the federal government’s requirement that all public water systems to do the same thing. Even better news, however, is that cost of this massive project will not be borne by the town, but by the state.