During visit to South L.A., EPA head vows to address environmental injustices in Watts

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, seen at a news conference this year, visited Watts on Saturday to address concerns about elevated levels of lead in the drinking water. During a visit to the Jordan Downs public housing complex in Watts on Saturday morning, EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the agency is working with state and federal partners to address elevated lead levels in the community’s drinking water and pollution from scrap metal recycler S&W Atlas Iron & Metal Co. “For far too long, communities like Watts across the country have had to bear the brunt of environmental injustices — injustices like the unsafe operations from Atlas Metals, burdens like lead in drinking water right here at Jordan Downs,” Regan said. More than a month after a team of Southern California researchers released the results of a study finding lead-tainted water in public housing developments in Watts, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has provided the city housing authority with more than 2,000 water sampling kits, according to Anselmo Collins, DWP’s senior assistant general manager in charge of the water system. “We’re going to use every tool in our toolbox to hold Atlas Metals accountable.” If Atlas moves off its current property in the future, he said, the site could be eligible for the EPA’s Brownfields Program, which provides grants and technical assistance to communities to assess, clean up and sustainably reuse contaminated properties.