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told a USA TODAY Network reporter to stop interviewing residents. The mom and her daughter still don’t know for sure if their water is tainted with lead, but nonetheless now drink bottled water. For the story on schools and day cares, I spoke with an Ithaca,


N.Y., mother whose son drank from water fountains at an elemen- tary school where several spots tested high for lead. A blood test on the 7-year-old found more than twice the average level for lead in young children, even though as far as anyone knows, he’s never been exposed to lead paint or tainted soil.


These types of stories bring the issue home to readers, who can see themselves in those living with the danger of potential lead poisoning.


Lesson No. 3: Give as much context as possible. We need to put numbers, and the overall problem, in context. In the school story, for exam- ple, it was imperative that I tell read- ers that about 90 percent of schools, and the vast majority of day cares, are not required by the federal gov- ernment to test for lead in water. That means the disturbing findings from the EPA data refer to this 10 percent minority of schools, and it’s impossible to know the true scope of the lead problem. Some of the unregulated schools test voluntarily, and many of them have found lead in their water — hinting at a very big and widespread problem indeed. Our investigation also focused a lot on the issue of notifying the public, since people can’t take ac- tion unless they know they’ve got a problem. We found that when test- ing did reveal high lead levels, many people weren’t warned as re- quired. And of 180 cited for failing to notify the public, almost half


Lesson No. 5: Interpret the science and policy in a readable


way. As any environmental or health reporter knows, science and policy are key to stories like these. But both of those things can quickly get complicated and be difficult for the general public to understand. That’s when we become translators of a sort. For instance, there’s no safe level of lead, which I described in the top of my school story as “a notorious toxin that can silently dam- age developing brains and slow growth in little bodies.” My col- leagues Alison and Mark got into the various ways it can sicken people, saying it can “… damage growing brains and cause reduced IQs, attention disorders and other problem behaviors. ... Adults are not immune, with evidence linking lead exposure to kidney problems, high blood pressure and increased risks of cardiovascular deaths.” Alison and Mark also explained the EPA’s “action level” (which is different from a “safe” level) in a very readable way: “The EPA determines that a system has exceeded the lead standard when more than 10 percent of samples taken show lead levels above 15 parts per billion. It’s called an ‘ac- tion level’ because at that level, water systems are required to take action to reduce contamination.” Lesson No. 6: Be aware of the


Lee Anne Walters of Flint, Mich., pours gallons of bottled water into a bucket and pan to warm up for her twin sons to take a weekly bath. Her son, Gavin, 4, looking on, has been diagnosed with lead poisoning. “I was hysterical,” Walters said. “I cried when they gave me my first lead report because the thought was ‘Oh my God, my kids.’ I’m one of those moms that I watch what my kids eat. I make sure they get enough fruits and vegetables. All of my kids are avid water drinkers.”


Photo: Ryan Garza, USA TODAY NETWORK


were cited more than once. Delays in notification sparked outrage among parents in Ithaca, who said they were robbed of the opportu- nity to protect their children. Lesson No. 4: Keep the national picture in mind, but localize. The story of lead in water, as it has unfolded, is an interesting blend of local and national. The Flint crisis began as a local story but then inspired national examinations of the problem. And the national ex- aminations turned up data that could be used locally. That’s what we did within the USA TODAY Network, with many of our papers writing local stories from the national data. I am a dual employee for USA TODAY and The Courier-Journal in Louisville, and wrote a local story on schools and day cares in Louisville in addition to anchoring the national story on the topic. Meanwhile, my C-J colleague, environmental reporter and SEJ


member, Jim Bruggers, wrote a story about the network investiga- tion’s findings that all water utilities in Kentucky and Southern In- diana comply with a federal rule on lead in drinking water, but that the EPA is calling on states to do more to ensure residents know which communities have lead problems and where the lead service lines are located (cjky.it/1Ydp2Z9). Other reporters from across the network also did stories looking at what the data said about their cities, towns and states.


competition. With Flint so much in the news and the issue of lead in water so timely, we knew we didn’t have all that much time to complete our investigation and write our sto- ries. We also heard other media out- lets were crunching the same data that we were. This meant very tight deadlines. We worked long hours, especially toward the end, because we wanted to get the story right and also get it first. And there was a lot of coordination with other papers in


the network as well. It all worked out, though, and running all of our content within a short period of time packed a big punch. Since our stories and others have run, policymakers have been focusing more intensely on the issue of lead in water. Several bills have been proposed in Congress. New York lawmakers proposed a flood of bills in that state, according to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, some citing the USA TODAY Network investigation and articles by Gannett newspapers in New York. One proposal there would shift responsibility of testing for lead in water from schools and day cares to local water departments; another would start a new fund with at least $200 million for water infrastructure renovation. I saw the Democrat & Chronicle story while I was away teach- ing a group of college journalism students. The timing was great, since it reinforced something I always tell budding journalists when I give such talks — that our profession gives us a chance to make a difference in the world, at least once in a while.


Laura Ungar is a Louisville, Ky.-based national/regional health enterprise reporter for USA Today, The Courier-Journal and Gannett. She’s been a reporter since 1990, previously working for The Hartford Courant in Connecticut, and The News Journal in Wilmington, Del. She has covered medical issues for a dozen years.


11 SEJournal Summer 2016


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