Warren looking at expanding notification of lead discoveries

WARREN

Franco Lucarelli, the city’s utilities director, has implemented a new procedure for helping Warren customers protect themselves from lead contamination in their water.

He also is formulating other ideas to better notify customers when high lead-level readings are found in city homes similar to what happened last summer.

“Looking back, in hindsight, we could have done more outside of the EPA guidelines,” he said during a news conference Tuesday at city hall that included Mayor Doug Franklin, the water department’s chemist and several council members.

The news conference came on the heels of a Sunday story in The Vindicator that revealed high lead-level readings from tests conducted last summer on the city’s east side.

Lucarelli has said the city followed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules and regulations given to them regarding notifications of lead in the water, which don’t require notification of neighbors when a high lead reading is found in a neighborhood.

But he said he and other city officials are discussing how to notify more people in the future.

For more on the situation and plans, read Wednesday's Vindicator or Vindy.com