Norton to Meet with CDC Director on Lead in D.C. Water on Wednesday, May 26

Norton to Meet with CDC Director on Lead in D.C. Water Wednesday, May 26

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today said that the office of Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, had requested a meeting following her sharp questioning last Thursday of Dr. Frieden's deputy during a House Science and Technology subcommittee hearing where it was reported that the CDC had issued misleading findings on lead in D.C. tap water six years ago. The meeting will take place on Wednesday, May 26 at 12:30 p.m. to further discuss the CDC's role in D.C.'s lead in the water crisis and how the CDC can identify and help affected residents. "The next step after the Science and Technology Subcommittee investigation is to do all we can to help the families who believed their drinking water was safe all along. I welcome the visit from Dr. Frieden as an important first step in this process," Norton said.

In 2007, the Congresswoman introduced the Lead-Free Drinking Water Act with then-chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Representative Henry Waxman, to address the issue of lead in drinking water nationally. Norton previously had held hearings to examine the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority's (WASA's) role in lead contamination of the District's water supply.