CONGRESSMAN PAT RYAN DEMANDS VERIZON AND AT&T CLEAN UP THEIR MESS, REMOVE LEAD CABLES FROM HUDSON VALLEY AND ACROSS UNITED STATES
Congressman Pat Ryan Demands Verizon and AT&T Clean Up Their Mess, Remove Lead Cables From Hudson Valley and Across United States
Bombshell Wall Street Journal report revealed more than 2,000 toxic lead-sheathed cables are all over the United States, including a playground in Wappingers Falls
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Pat Ryan wrote to the CEOs of Verizon, AT&T and U.S. Telecom, demanding that they remove toxic lead cables that are poisoning communities across the United States. This comes on the back of a bombshell Wall Street Journal report that revealed hundreds of cities across the country are covered by cables leaching lead into the ground, including in Wappingers Falls. Congressman Ryan is a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Water Resources Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over the Clean Water Act and the Environmental Protection Agency.
“For decades, big corporations have polluted our rivers and our drinking water, always putting their profit above the health and safety of our community. This latest failure by Verizon and AT&T is no different,” said Congressman Pat Ryan. “It is absolutely unacceptable that their negligence is now making it dangerous for our kids to even go to the playground. They need to clean up their mess and safely remove these cables immediately.”
The Wall Street Journal found that there are more than 2,000 lead-sheathed cables across the United States, both aerial and underwater cables, that have not been addressed by either companies or by environmental regulators. Lead exposure can seriously harm children, including damage to the brain and nervous system and can even cause hearing and speech issues.
Ryan also requested answers to the following questions by July 25, 2023:
- Do USTelecom companies have the ability to identify all lead cables that they constructed or were acquired through merger, including those near playgrounds, schools, hospitals, and major water sources?
- How many miles of cables are US Telecom’s member companies responsible for whether through ownership or consolidation?
- How many miles of aerial cables are they responsible for?
- How many miles of underground cables are they responsible for ?
- What are USTelecom’s plan to protect lineworkers who service or will be servicing these lines? Will they have access to both blood testing and bone testing for lead?
- Are these lead cables still operational? If so, what services are they providing?
- How do USTelecom’s member companies plan on addressing the environmental and public health issues posed by both aerial and submarine cables? What is the plan for remediation and will they provide remediation, including removal of all lead-sheathed cables, to any location that has any level of lead including the lead cables near the Wappingers Falls, NY playground and other locations in New York?
A copy of Ryan’s letter appears below:
Dear Mr. Spalter,
I write with concern over reporting by the Wall Street Journal that members of USTelecom have ownership over lead-sheathed copper wiring across the United States. I am particularly concerned about the reporting of these lead-sheathed cables in playgrounds and in communities across New York’s 18th Congressional District. These mostly obsolete and, in many cases, abandoned cables have been leaching lead into the ground in my community, placing children and families at risk of lead poisoning.
Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that there is no safe level of lead in children. Even trace amounts of lead in a child’s system can pose severe risks to physical and mental development. The recent investigation by the Wall Street Journal revealed that around 80% of sediment samples taken next to underwater lead cables tested positive for elevated levels of lead, showing dangerous levels of lead in public spaces.1 This danger also exists in communities with aerial cables as well. The reporting revealed troubling results for a community in my district with aerial cables. In Wappingers Falls, NY, one aerial cable runs along the perimeter of a children’s playground and basketball court. While the Environmental Protection Agency generally recommends that children avoid soil containing more than 400 parts of lead per million, samples taken on the playground under the cable tested at 850 parts per million. The Wall Street Journal investigators performed an isotopic analysis to confirm that the cables in question were in fact, responsible for the high traces of lead.
As a father of two young sons, the possibility of them ingesting lead at a local playground due to Verizon’s negligence over these lead-sheathed cables is appalling. Community centers, like playgrounds, play an essential role for all children, especially underserved children, as a space for physical activity, cognitive development, and socio-emotional growth. The fact that telecommunications companies knew that there were lead-covered cables left abandoned in communities, and did not proactively work to mitigate the impacts of the cablesis unacceptable. This corporate irresponsibility and its compounding public health impacts has the possibility of harming a generation of children, who were simply going to the playground.
Knowing that these aerial and submarine cables pose a public health and environmental threat, there must be clear oversight regulating their disposal and removal. It is unacceptable that USTelecom’s member companies continue to allow these cables to continue to leach lead into the environment.
Given the known risks and health hazards of lead-sheathed cables, I aim to understand the policies and procedures that USTelecom’s member companies plan to implement to address the growing issue of toxic exposure caused by abandoned lead cables with the following questions. I respectfully request your answer by July 25, 2023.
- Do USTelecom companies have the ability to identify all lead cables that they constructed or were acquired through merger, including those near playgrounds, schools, hospitals, and major water sources?
- How many miles of cables are US Telecom’s member companies responsible for whether through ownership or consolidation?
- How many miles of aerial cables are they responsible for?
- How many miles of underground cables are they responsible for ?
- What are USTelecom’s plan to protect lineworkers who service or will be servicing these lines? Will they have access to both blood testing and bone testing for lead?
- Are these lead cables still operational? If so, what services are they providing?
- How do USTelecom’s member companies plan on addressing the environmental and public health issues posed by both aerial and submarine cables? What is the plan for remediation and will they provide remediation, including removal of all lead-sheathed cables, to any location that has any level of lead including the lead cables near the Wappingers Falls, NY playground and other locations in New York?
Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter, and I look forward to your response and swift action to remediate the situation.
Sincerely,
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