Columbus, Ohio, files suit against lead pipe manufacturers
City water maintenance workers work on a broken water pipe in downtown Columbus, Ohio, on Jan. 7, 2013. Andrew Welsh-Huggins/AP
A novel new lawsuit wants to put companies that made and sold lead pipes on the hook for the massive costs cities face to replace drinking water infrastructure.
The city of Columbus, Ohio, is suing seven companies for allegedly lying to government officials and the public about the safety of lead pipes, which are prone to leaching the toxic heavy metal into people’s tap water.
“Those of us who have been working on lead in drinking water have seen this as an opportunity for a long time,” said Elin Warn Betanzo, a Michigan-based water engineer and president of Safe Water Engineering. “It seems like the lawsuits from the lead paint and tobacco industry would be a good model for the drinking water industry, so I’m happy to see it.”