Youngstown area state Representative John Boccieri is calling for better support for local communities dealing with lead contamination.
He says that local water authority operators are understaffed, and have trouble following through with health departments and residents on cases of contamination.
Sebring, which experienced high lead levels in its tap water last year, is in Boccieri’s district.
The Ohio EPA failed to notify residents about the problem for six months.
Boccieri says better local coordination will allow for safer communities.
“Do we want follow up and case management to be from some office cubicle in Columbus? Or do we want them with the local folks here who know the community, they know exactly the stresses and strains, and the things we need to do with respect to getting our processes correct?”
Boccieri serves on the state Energy and Natural Resources Committee in the Ohio House, where he hopes to implement some of these reforms.
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