Mississippi
Worried about lead in your tap water? Your fears may be unfounded
If you ask Mississippians about their tap water, many will say they are concerned about lead.
Those concerns echo anecdotal stories from friends, warnings from municipalities for pregnant women and young children not to drink the water and national news stories from places like Flint, Michigan.
An investigation by Consumer Reports and Mississippi Spotlight, a collaboration of the Clarion Ledger, Mississippi Today and other news organizations, found detectable levels of lead in all 149 municipal and well water samples from all corners of Mississippi, covering all counties in the state. Three of those cases were in Jackson. That said, just one sample, from Carroll County, near Greenwood, rose above the Environmental Protection Agency’s “action level.”
The EPA sets its lead limits for tap water based on parts per billion, or ppb. If lead levels exceed 15 ppb in more than 10% of homes, the federal regulator sounds the alarm. Residents are notified, and those that are pregnant, nursing and young children are told to avoid the water.
Test results found just one location with a lead ppb above the action level. A private well system in Carroll County showed the highest level in the state, at 18.3 ppb. After being notified of the high level, the owner of the well did not respond to requests to be interviewed for this story, but the person who performed the test did.
Emily Roush-Elliott is the “Social Impact Architect” at Delta Design Build Workshop, which works to “develop safe, healthy, and dignified affordable housing and economic opportunity” in the Mississippi Delta, according to its website. As part of that work, Roush-Elliott became a certified lead tester, in order to test locations before construction or contracting work.
The private well was located about eight miles outside of Greenwood city limits, Roush-Elliott said, and she was surprised that the testing revealed such a high result there.
“I know it’s so expensive,” Roush-Elliott said. “(They), five or six years ago, had pretty significant work done on their well, so I’m surprised to hear that it got back with positive results.”
Lead can find its way into private well water from a number of sources, including from internal home plumbing or well components.
In Jackson, a federal judge has allowed a lawsuit to move forward with about 1,000 children diagnosed with lead poisoning suing the city and state Department of Health. As the water system there has been the subject of national headlines, some residents, and at least one college and a hospital, have decided to turn to private wells.
Jackson residents remain warned of lead levels over the EPA action level, but the city’s third party water administrator, Ted Henifin, has said his team had not found any lead pipes since it took over the system last fall, at least as of June.
“As far as we know, we haven’t found any yet,” Henifin said at a June forum sponsored by Mississippi State University’s John C. Stennis Institute of Government and the Capitol press corps. Henifin did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
At the forum, Henifin also said his team, JXN Water, have hired BlueConduit, a data analytics company that worked with Flint to locate lead service lines using algorithms.
Testing by Consumer Reports and Mississippi Spotlight found all three Jackson addresses sampled had detectable lead levels, with three addresses above 1 ppb, though all were below the action level. Experts, including some involved with crafting the EPA regulations, often note that no level of detectable lead is safe, and that the action level is not based on health outcomes.
There are other figures, too. The limit allowed by the Food and Drug Administration in bottled drinking water is 5 ppb, three times less than the EPA action level. None of the Jackson samples rose above that level either. Two samples in the state, one in Quitman and one in Olive Branch, were higher than the 5 ppb mark, but lower than the action level. The residents of those samples did not respond to requests for comment either.
Cecilia Bullock’s house had the highest amount of lead of any of the Jackson samples, at 4.76 ppb, just below the bottled water limit. Bullock said she’s often heard concern from friends and family about Jackson water, but that she’s trusted it and drank it, even through boil water notices.
“If it’s brown, I don’t drink it,” Bullock said. “If it’s yellow or brown, I don’t drink it, but if it’s clear I am going to drink it … I’ve had it looking like coffee or looking like tea, but, if it’s clear, I’m drinking it.”
As for the lead, Bullock said it’s likely due to pipes inside or underneath her house.
“It could be the age of my house, built in 1931, which I’m sure has had a lot of pipe replacement, but not all of it,” Bullock said.
Roush-Elliott also tested her own house, which is on the Greenwood municipal water system, and which returned no signs of lead.
“I’m not from Mississippi, but I’ve been here in Greenwood for a decade. Usually we have bad news, and on this front I think it’s good. I think people have a really positive relationship with their drinking water here,” Roush-Elliott said. “I would have a lot more doubts about private wells and how they’re maintained and things like that than I do about Greenwood’s water system. I’m sort of shocked to be saying that, but this is something that I feel like seems to be working well. I drink the water directly from the tap, and I enjoy it.”
In other areas, like in the state’s capital city, there is a far greater level of distrust.
Henifin has said one of his primary jobs is to build back trust among Jackson residents.
“It’s going to take a couple of years of consistent water at their taps every time they turn them on, no issues popping up anywhere, it’s going to take a long time to rebuild trust in the water,” Henifin said in an interview with the Clarion Ledger about the annual water quality report JXN Water released in July.
In a separate series of tests, performed by Clarion Ledger staff last year, seven of 17 samples had detectable levels of lead, though none was above the action level and only one was above the 5 ppb bottled water limit.
Roush-Elliott said she has concerns about lead being detected by regulatory authorities in a timely manner, related to her experiences becoming a lead inspector. Delta Design Build Workshop is required to perform lead abatement procedures, but there were so few people in her area able to do the work that she decided to get trained on it herself.
“I have a lot more insight on that than most people. It also makes me realize how few people there are in this area. The fact that we can’t subcontract that out cost-effectively, that it was actually cheaper for me to go and get the training and certification, shows how little oversight there is,” she said. “We have a great relationship with our code enforcement office here in Greenwood, but we know that they are understaffed, and we know that we have significantly more code oversight than the vast majority of neighboring communities.”
This lack of oversight leaves her concerned that lead exposure may slip through the cracks in some places.
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Mississippi
Why Mississippi State football loss to Arizona State revealed a strong Jeff Lebby culture
It was 11:10 p.m. Saturday in Starkville when Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt barreled into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game.
At that point, it would’ve been fair for Mississippi State football fans to call it a night. The Bulldogs (1-1) trailed 27-3 at ASU in the final minute of the second quarter. They were dominated in just about every statistical category. New coach Jeff Lebby looked like he was headed toward his first loss, and an embarrassing one.
And even if you gave the second half a chance, eyes just a crack open, that wasn’t encouraging either. Arizona State (2-0) took the opening drive of the third quarter for a field goal while eating 8 minutes, 27 seconds of game time. That just about decided the game before Mississippi State touched the ball in the second half.
Wrong.
Instead, MSU scored touchdowns on three of its next four drives and cut the score to 30-23 with 5:27 to play. The defense, which was torched for 346 rushing yards, needed one more stop to let the offense try to tie it. It would’ve been the largest comeback in program history.
Mississippi State’s path to a bowl game seems murkier than it was a week ago. But in the long-term, there’s still encouragement after the 30-23 loss.
“Our guys battled in an incredible way in the second half, and we’re going to hold on to that,” Lebby said in his postgame radio interview. “We’re going to find ways to get back in the building, get back to work and be able to walk into Davis Wade (Stadium) with a ton of confidence and ready to go win a football game.”
The encouragement from Mississippi State’s comeback effort
Lebby said after beating Eastern Kentucky 56-7 in Week 1 that there is an abundance of teachable moments in wins, just like losses.
There is plenty to point to after losing to Arizona State.
Mississippi State came out incredibly flat. The Sun Devils scored on their first five possessions. The MSU offense had one field goal, two punts, a fumble returned for a touchdown and a turnover-on-downs in the first half. MSU had -13 rushing yards in the first half.
There were concerns entering the game about the travel distance, late kickoff and high temperature. But let’s be real, Mississippi State was playing so poorly at the start that it was hard to judge if those were factors.
“I got to do a better job getting these guys ready to go play out of the gate,” Lebby said. “I thought our energy, our effort and our emotion was really good, but then we did not play clean there in the first quarter, so that part was frustrating.”
The Bulldogs outscored the Sun Devils 20-0 in the final quarter and a half. It was a surprise. Arizona State was rolling. Mississippi State was not.
MORE: Introducing Sam Sklar, the Clarion Ledger’s new Mississippi State beat reporter
For Lebby, a first-time head coach at any level, let it be a learning moment for him. It was his first time getting pinned in a corner. The Bulldogs adjusted correctly in the second half like good coaches do.
The rushing offense and defense both need to improve. Badly. Quarterback Blake Shapen has been impressive in his first two Mississippi State games and the wide receiver room is deep and talented as ever, but they can’t be the only answer.
That’s just for this season.
Mississippi State has its first tally in the loss column. But it isn’t a strike against Lebby leading the future of the program.
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
Sam Leavitt leads ASU to convincing victory in 1st career start
Leavitt and the Sun Devils cruised past visiting Wyoming 48-7 on Saturday night at Mountain America Stadium.
The Arizona State football team elevated its play on the field in its 48-7 win over Wyoming in Week 1.
It is elevating its uniform game for Week 2 against Mississippi State.
ASU football is wearing a gold alternate jersey against the Bulldogs at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe on Saturday night.
The jersey includes maroon “Arizona State” lettering and maroon numbering, along with a noticeable Big 12 logo.
The Sun Devil football team unveiled the uniform last month, with Athletic Director Graham Rossini posting that “you’ll see this on the field early this season.”
On Thursday, ASU football announced that it would be wearing the uniform against Mississippi State with a video that said “Modern shine, with a classic design.”
On Friday, it posted another look at the uniform.
More: Arizona State vs Mississippi State live score updates, analysis for college football game
ASU vs Mississippi State schedule, TV: How to watch college football game
Promising look: Arizona State football’s 2024 win prediction doubles after Week 1 victory over Wyoming
Social media reacted favorably overall to ASU football’s uniform vs Mississippi State:
Do you like the look for ASU football?
ASU vs. Mississippi State picks: Who wins Week 2 college football game?
Looking promising: Arizona State football makes huge leap in college football ranking, Big 12 power rankings
Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.
WARREN COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) – There are questions about a bus company’s track record after a fatal bus crash in Mississippi on Saturday, August 31.
Seven people died when a passenger bus traveling on Interstate 20 left the roadway and overturned. The Mississippi Highway Patrol (MHP) said that 41 passengers and two drivers were enroute to Dallas from Atlanta.
Autobuses Regiomontanos owned the bus in the crash. The company, which is registered with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), has had a troubled record in recent memory. It consists of lawsuits, driver fitness violations and even another fatal crash in 2023.
According to the DOT, the company, based in Laredo, Texas, operates 17 vehicles and employs 39 drivers. The company currently has a ‘conditional‘ safety rating. It is given to companies with ‘inadequate‘ safety controls. Still, companies with this rating may continue to operate.
Its most recent compliance review occurred in July 2023. Using data available from the DOT’s Safety Management System, it has had 155 inspections. Of those inspections, 58 had violations. Nearly all were vehicle maintenance violations.
Three infractions between October and December of 2023 involved issues with vehicle tires. Other infractions included 16 brake or air brake violations and citations for having two buses with no or defective emergency exits.
Seven victims killed in Mississippi bus crash identified
Other inspection violations related to the bus company’s drivers. All violations occurred this year. They include the following:
-
(1) Operating a commercial vehicle without corrective lenses or hearing aids as indicated on the driver’s medical certificate (2) Operating a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) while not possessing a valid commercial driver’s license (CDL).
-
05/13/2024
-
05/14/2024
-
05/14/2024
-
05/28/2024
-
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Operate a CMV while not in possession of a CDL on person.
DOT data indicates that company buses have been in four separate accidents over the last two years. A November 2022 crash required a bus to be towed away and another in April 2023 resulted in someone dying. Below is the record.
|
Date |
Location |
Deaths |
Injuries |
|
10/16/2023 |
Louisiana |
0 |
1 |
|
4/15/2023 |
Texas |
1 |
2 |
|
11/23/2022 |
Tennessee |
0 |
0 |
|
9/24/2022 |
Arkansas |
0 |
1 |
The NTSB is investigating the crash in conjunction with MHP. NTSB officials said they will look at the carrier’s safety record and protections for bus occupants.
Community comes together to help Mississippi bus crash victims
Autobuses Regiomontanos violated several provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), it failed to have an ADA training program in place for its employees and contractors, failed to file required ADA compliance reports and failed to ensure that all lifts on its buses were properly maintained.
In 2015, the company entered into a settlement agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.
The company was also named as a defendant in a $708 million lawsuit filed by New York City City in January. The city accused Autobuses Regiomontanos and other charter bus and transportation companies of taking migrants to the Big Apple on behalf of the State of Texas.
The DOT advises travelers to do the following before they book their next bus trip.
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Search for bus companies
-
Verify that a company is authorized to operate
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Review the company’s safety records
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Make sure the company is licensed and insured
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If appropriate, report a company
DOT agencies advise consumers that unless a motor carrier has received an unsatisfactory rating or has been ordered to discontinue its operations, it is authorized to operate on the nation’s roadways. Additionally, readers should not conclude that a carrier is safe or unsafe by only using data from DOT agencies. For more information, click here.
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