A class action has been filed against the Washington, D.C. Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) on behalf of District residents who allege that the Authority has known that their drinking water was contaminated with lead since the summer of 2001, but didn't take any remedial action or notify the public, in violation of federal environmental law. The action seeks an immediate order forcing the District to provide an alternative source of clean water, possible refunds on water bills, and unspecified punitive damages.

The action alleges that, in the summer of 2002, half of the 53 houses sampled by WASA exceeded federal lead limits. According to the suit, the water authority should have undertaken a remediation program, which is required by federal law if 10 percent of the water sampled exceeds the Environmental Protection Agency's lead limits. WASA allegedly avoided that requirement by invalidating some of the samples and reporting to EPA that only 8 percent of the samples exceeded federal limits.

The litigation seeks to have WASA immediately begin delivering alternative, clean water to affected households and to have D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams declare a public emergency. The home of named plaintiffs Amy Harding-Wright and her husband Alfonso Wright, parents of a two-week-old baby, allegedly has drinking water with lead levels of 435 parts per billion, nearly 30 times higher than EPA's limit.

In its 1991 lead and copper rule, EPA set an "action limit" of 15 ppb for lead to protect against exposure to lead that has leached into water from pipes and plumbing. If lead concentrations exceed 15 ppb in more than 10 percent of the water sampled, the system must take action to control corrosion and to inform the public on steps they should take to protect their health. Excess lead can cause problems with physical and mental development in children and high blood pressure in adults, according to the EPA.

At a hearing before the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform March 5, WASA officials admitted the public was not notified properly when the agency found high levels of lead in the water of more than 50 percent of the houses sampled in 2002. In fact, WASA allegedly issued a water quality report in 2003 stating that D.C. water met or surpassed all federal requirements "every single day of 2002."

In a separate action, the attorneys who filed the lawsuit also filed a notice with EPA March 5, asking it to declare a public health emergency and to order WASA to provide alternate clean water for affected houses. If EPA and WASA do not act immediately, a separate lawsuit would be filed against EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers under the Safe Drinking Water Act, according to the notice. The Corps of Engineers administers the Washington Aqueduct, which supplies water to WASA