WHEN COMPROMISE IS A DIRTY WORD

Compromise is sometimes known as the Canadian way. In regards however to health and safety measures it can also be eerily similar to capitulation. Lobbying of politicians by powerful vested interests has long watered down necessary and important legislation whether it be worker safety or public health matters that could either cost some parties large sums or reduce other parties future profits. Think of proposed U.S. EPA rules that have been weakened by industry lobbying. Glyphosate restrictions come to mind due to industry lobbying.

We have a crisis of lead water service pipes in North America. We have had this crisis for many decades but our authorities have mostly kept it under the radar. They have compromised and in my opinion compromised the public health. "A top reason for continuing to use lead service lines instead of immediately digging them up is that utilities can treat water so it forms a coating on the interior of the pipes--a corrosion barrier that helps prevent lead particles from dislodging and travelling to your faucet. But if the water chemistry changes, the corrosion controls can fail.
That's what happened in Flint after the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality told the Flint Water Treatment Plant not to maintain corrosion controls that had previously been in place before the city switched water sources in 2014." (HuffPost US Feb 22, 2016 by Arthur Delaney.)

Here in Elmira, Ontario we have Woolwich Township replacing their lead service lines in older subdivisions when they are already doing road reconstruction. Notice I said that Woolwich Township replace "their" lead service lines. Regardless of which authority (likely Woolwich) approved the use of lead service lines from the main waterline under the roadway to a private residence, Woolwich will not replace the entire service line. Oh no they will only replace the lead service pipe up to the curb even though your property line doesn't start for several more feet. Regardless they will not replace the entire lead pipe originating from their waterline up to your house. You the homeowner are on the hook both for the cost and for the arrangements apparently. Nice compromise. Oh and by the way "...it turns out that replacing just the public portion of a lead service line can cause lead levels to spike in a homeowner's water. That's because the work involved in replacing just part of a lead service line can jostle free lead in the remaining part of the pipe." (same source as above)

In the U.S. there is a movement to legislate actual lead service line replacement. The EPA are considering changes to the Safe Drinking Water Act to encourage public water systems to go ahead and replace the pipes. Some have insisted that that compromise is unacceptable because "The rule needs to be such that it enforces actual lead service line replacement".

Meanwhile elementary as well as high schools and day cares throughout Waterloo Region have had or continue to have lead levels in excess of the federal guideline for lead in drinking water. This includes Elmira District Secondary School as well as John Mahood School in Elmira. The Waterloo Region District School Board claim to be following provincial rules regarding testing of water and perhaps mitigation methods such as flushing taps and waterlines after holiday periods of inactivity. This flushing is at best a temporary and brief stopgap. It is a compromise to allow school boards not to do the obvious permanent fix of replacing the lead service line coming in from the street. Keep on spending on everything but our children's health and safety. Oh and by the way the Ontario Ministry of Environment's (MECP) lead guidelines are twice as high as Health Canada's. i.e. 10 parts per billion versus five parts per billion.