The Stream, September 25: Water Infrastructure Work Poses Lead Risk in Chicago

Water Contamination
Work to replace and upgrade Chicago’s aging water pipelines could cause levels of lead in the city’s drinking water to spike, the Chicago Tribune reported, citing a recent study from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Many old pipelines connecting houses to the main water system are made out of lead, and disturbing them can increase levels of lead for years, the study found.

A Canadian oil company is draining two-thirds of a lake within its Alberta oil sands property after the environment department ordered the cleanup of a bitumen leak at the bottom of the lake, Reuters reported. Bitumen is a heavy crude oil produced from the oil sands.

Floods
The Philippines government is developing new, 3-D maps of flood areas to improve future development decisions, AlertNet reported. The maps incorporate historical data as well as projected variations in rainfall and temperature due to climate change.

Despite widespread flooding in Thailand, the current disaster is nowhere near the scale of the 2011 floods that devastated industrial production in the country, Reuters reported. Thailand’s government has reassured businesses that industrial areas, which have been the focus of flood defenses since 2011, are safe.

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Codi Kozacek

A news correspondent for Circle of Blue based out of Hawaii. She writes The Stream, Circle of Blue’s daily digest of international water news trends. Her interests include food security, ecology and the Great Lakes.
Contact Codi Kozacek