As a mother and grandmother in the city of Syracuse and chair of Families for Lead Freedom Now, Oceanna Fair knows all about the damage lead-based paint is causing in her community. And now, she’s worried about lead in the water, too.
"There's no question about what's happening,” said Fair. “We are just not holistically taking care of the problem, so this extra level of injury is just an insult to families who are already suffering."
Families for Lead Freedom Now and other partners are filing a legal petition, urging the EPA to investigate the issue and force New York state and the city to take action.
The group cites tests in the summer of 2024 that showed high levels of lead in Syracuse’s drinking water.
In response to the filing, Syracuse Chief Policy Officer Greg Loh released a statement saying: “The Natural Resources Defense Council's petition is again filled with unsupported allegations that belie the facts. The facts demonstrate that the City of Syracuse’s drinking water has, once again, met EPA drinking water standards. The latest sampling results, administered by an independent contractor who performs this service for other municipalities, provide further evidence that the lead level exceedance that occurred in the first half of 2024 was the result of errors in the sampling protocol. The City has, and will continue, to work with federal, state and county regulators to ensure Syracuse drinking water meets all regulatory requirements."
Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, the director of the Racial Justice Center for the New York Civil Liberties Union, said she’d like to see more investigation.
"We want to figure out, why are these tests so different?” said Owens-Chaplin. “Why are they fluctuating as high as they're fluctuating? And let's figure out what's wrong with our water source. And we haven't gotten that type of aggressive, assertive reaction."
Fair said she’d like the city of Syracuse to declare a state of emergency, provide at-the-tap water filters, and launch a public education campaign.
"You should be concerned, and you should be paying attention, and you should be watching everything that Syracuse is doing and making sure we get it right because eventually it could be your city and you want to make sure they get it right," said Fair.
