More things that can go wrong ...
This time closer to home - the offices of the Department of Environment in Canberra!
Why no ongoing monitoring of the water?
From the Sydney Morning Herald:
Environmental workers tested for lead poison
By Kerry-Anne Walsh and Sarah Price
January 8, 2006
UP to 200 employees of a government department are being tested for lead poisoning after the discovery that drinking water had been contaminated with lead, zinc and copper.
The embarrassing discovery of the contaminated recycled water system in the Department of Environment's Greenhouse Office in Canberra prompted a Christmas shutdown of the water supply and emergency investigations by health officials.
The contamination of lead, which ranged from 10 to 16 times that recommended for drinking water, was discovered only after a new building manager ordered testing of the system installed two years ago.
The recycled water, pumped through a sophisticated underground storage system, had been used for drinking and in the kitchen.
The ACT worker's compensation body, Comcare, is conducting an investigation into how the water was contaminated and its health impact on the workers.
A spokesman for the department said once the contamination was discovered just before Christmas blood tests were offered to staff through Health Services Australia.
See - Environmental workers tested for lead poison.
Accidents and oversights do happen - even with the best of intentions ...
posted by Concerned Ratepayer at 7:21 AM
3 Comments:
Pity this comment wasn't researched a little more carefully - nothing to do with recycling! Seems the Sydney Morning Herald got it wrong, and the contaminated water came from a rainwater collection system installed in the John Gorton building 2 years ago. Its not unusual to get this sort of problem with soft rainwater and leaching of heavy metals from plumbing. Refer to the Canberra Times reports of 24 and 26 December for confirmation.
6:04 PM, January 10, 2006
This is the Canberra Times report:
Lead contamination questions remain
P Malone
Monday, 26 December 2005
Many questions remain to be answered from the lead poisoning scare at the Department of Environment and Heritage's Greenhouse Office.
The department discovered a week ago that the Greenhouse Office water supply had lead contamination ranging from 0.099 to 0.16 milligrams a litre. This is 10-16 times the maximum lead levels recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council of 0.01 milligrams a litre of water.
The most obvious question is how could a department with such an awareness of environmental issues install a system with such problems?
Other questions include: what checks of the system were run after its installation, and how often? Who was directly responsible for installation, and what efforts did they make to determine whether there was the potential for lead contamination from the fittings of such an old building? What other installations have they put in place? What efforts are being made to identify and check any other systems they have installed?
The department cut off the supply of contaminated water immediately after it was discovered. It then called in ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Charles Guest to prepare a preliminary report, and asked Comcare to investigate the matter.
The contamination arose from a rainwater collection system installed two years ago when the Greenhouse Office took over the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's former communication room in an underground room in the John Gorton Building in Parkes.
The Environment Department has many warnings about the dangers of consuming lead on its web site.
The consumption of the water would have been particularly dangerous for pregnant women, as it is known that lead can pass though the placenta to the unborn child.
Papers published on the department's web site warn that there is growing evidence of intellectual impairment in young children with blood lead levels previously thought to be safe. It says studies in Australia showed a decrease in IQ in children aged 0 to 4 with sustained blood levels greater than 10 micrograms a decilitre.
Pregnant women are at risk as lead can be passed on to the unborn child through the placenta. Exposure of a foetus to lead levels is associated with developmental effects during the first two years of life. These could include effects on memory, learning and problem- solving.
The head of the Department's Corporate Strategy Division, David Anderson, said last week that the overall assessment was that the lead contamination was "low risk", but agreed that people would be concerned, and said the department would offer blood tests and counselling to anyone feeling anxious.
The Greenhouse Office employs 200 people, but with normal staff turnover during the past two years it is likely that many more staff members would have had significant exposure to the system.
Mindful of past events where inadequate records have been maintained, thus preventing appropriate compensation or support for affected staff, the Community and Public Sector Union has asked that staff files be annotated with details of their possible exposure.
6:05 PM, January 10, 2006
The purpose of including the article was to highlight what can go wrong with any water system if the proper checks are not in place.
The SMH article refers to "recycled water" - a rainwater collection system is a form of recycling.
If you have a problem with the SMH article, suggest taking it up with them.
6:13 PM, January 10, 2006
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