- Roma stroll past Udinese as fans protest De Rossi sacking
- Horschel outduels McIlroy to win PGA Championship play-off
- Audiences summon 'Beetlejuice' to top of N. America box office for third week
- Stones salvages point for Man City against 10-man Arsenal
- Egypt fears 'all out' regional war: foreign minister to AFP
- Last-gasp Boniface gives Leverkusen victory, Stuttgart outclass Dortmund
- Scholz's party beats far-right AfD in east German state vote: projections
- Olympic champion Evenepoel retains world title in 'toughest time trial'
- Horschel's eagle beats McIlroy in PGA Championship play-off
- Mourners at commander's funeral express loyalty to Hezbollah
- Norris hails his 'mega' McLaren after dominant win at Singapore
- Monaco beat Le Havre to join PSG at the top of Ligue 1
- Scholz's party narrowly leads far-right AfD in east German state vote: exit polls
- New leftist president vows to 'rewrite Sri Lankan history'
- UN adopts pact to tackle volatile future for mankind
- Leclerc hails Ferrari fightback from torrid Singapore GP qualifying
- Belgian Evenepoel retains world title in 'toughest time trial'
- Sosa rescues point for Forest against Brighton
- Last-gasp Boniface gives Leverkusen victory over Wolfsburg in seven-goal thriller
- Swiss voters reject environment, pensions reforms: official results
- No fairytale ending for Ricciardo after 13 years in Formula One
- Israel and Hezbollah urged to step back from the brink
- What is the UN's 'Pact for the Future'?
- Norris dominates Singapore Grand Prix to cut Verstappen's title lead
- From bullets to ballots: Sri Lanka's comrade president-elect
- McLaren's Lando Norris wins Singapore GP to narrow F1 title race
- UN adopts pact promising to build 'brighter future' for humanity
- Military escalation not in Israel's 'best interest': White House
- Marxist leader declared Sri Lanka's president-elect
- Classes resume at Bangladesh university at heart of protests
- 'Barely anyone left': Sudan's El-Fasher devastated by fighting
- 'Warrior' Joshua vows to fight on despite Dubois mauling
- Martin extends MotoGP lead as Bastianini wins at Misano and Bagnaia crashes out
- New French government instantly under pressure on multiple fronts
- Australia's Brown adds world title to Olympic time trial gold
- Russian strike on Ukraine's Kharkiv wounds 21
- UK's Starmer rules out austerity as Labour conference opens
- Swiss voters reject environment, pensions reforms: projected results
- Israel says 'landed blows' on Hezbollah as Lebanon violence intensifies
- Roma CEO steps down amid anger over club icon De Rossi's sacking
- Incoming French government under pressure on multiple fronts
- Hezbollah rockets strike near Israel's Haifa as UN warns of 'catastrophe'
- Haddad Maia roars back to beat Kasatkina in Korea Open final
- All-rounder Ashwin powers India to 280-run Test win over Bangladesh
- Failed Springbok 'gamble' sets up rugby championship decider
- Lebanon strikes send Israelis to shelters as UN warns of 'catastrophe'
- Far-right AfD eyes new win in east German state vote
- Tony Popovic set to become new Socceroos coach - reports
- All-round Ashwin powers India to big Test win over Bangladesh
- NZ chase 275 to win first Sri Lanka Test after Patel bags six
US to replace all lead water lines within 10 years
President Joe Biden's administration on Thursday announced it would require the removal of the nation's remaining lead pipes within a decade, preventing an estimated 22 million people from potential exposure to the toxic metal in their drinking water.
The new action comes after successful lawsuits filed by multiple states and nonprofits acting on behalf of impacted communities, which are disproportionately low-income and from racial minorities.
"Today's proposed action significantly advances President Biden's commitment to remove every lead service line in America to protect children and vulnerable populations from the negative impacts of lead in drinking water," the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said.
There is no safe level of lead exposure: It evades a key defense of the body known as the blood-brain-barrier, and even trace amounts cause irreversible cognitive damage to children.
In adults it can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, high blood pressure, decreased kidney function and cancer.
Biden's administration announced its intention in 2021 to remove remaining lead lines over the coming years, but the plan was criticized for actually slowing down the rate of replacement and even allowing small public water systems to avoid replacing them altogether.
The government was subsequently sued by nine states and the District of Columbia, as well as the environmental justice groups Earthjustice and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The new plan sets a firm timeline of replacement within 10 years.
"The EPA's proposed improvements to the Lead and Copper Rule are a much-needed response to a dire public health crisis that's been ongoing for more than a century," said Suzanne Novak, Earthjustice attorney, in a statement.
A serious contamination problem was uncovered in Flint, Michigan in 2014 when the city switched its drinking water supply from Detroit's system to the Flint River to save costs. Water quality and health issues for residents -- including skin rashes and hair loss -- were long ignored by authorities.
"Safe potable water is a human right," said Janette McCarthy Wallace, general counsel of the NAACP, a racial justice group. "We intend to hold the EPA to its word on 100% replacement of lead pipes within the next decade."
L.Durand--AMWN