In high school, Darrell King always wanted to win a state championship. As a football player and track runner in North Chicago, he never lived out his dream. But King, now chief of Evanston’s Water Production Bureau, finally won his long-awaited state championship in March, after four judges declared Evanston’s tap water the best tasting.
Lead On: A city resolution
HEENA SRIVASTAVA: From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Heena Srivastava.
KALEN LUCIANO: And I’m Kalen Luciano. This is Lead On.
THOMAS SUFFREDIN: Our next item that was pulled was item A10, I think that was yours Robin, right?
ROBIN RUE SIMMONS: Yes, staff recommends City Council adopt the resolution 11-R-21 to approve the representative testing of samples for lead and copper in all nine wards. I move approval.
OTHER ALDERMEN: Second.
ROBIN RUE SIMMONS: Thank you.
HEENA SRIVASTAVA: Evanston City Council voted Monday night, January 25, to pass a resolution mandating representative water testing. This means that Evanston will now be required to collect at least three water samples to test for lead and copper from each of the city’s nine wards. 5th Ward Ald. Robin Rue Simmons spearheaded this effort.
Lead On: A federal rule full of holes
For about three decades, Evanston has collected nearly 440 water samples for lead testing. 60% came from the historically White and wealthy 6th and 7th wards. Only 1.8% came from the historically Black 5th Ward.
HEENA SRIVASTAVA: When my co-reporter Kalen and I started reporting this story, it was based on one of those hunches you really hope isn’t true one of those stories where, if you were wrong, it meant people were doing their jobs well. But if you were right, it meant Evanston officials were neglecting residents, and they were paying the price.
December 22, 2020
Second Ward resident Regina SantâAnna has helped her elderly neighbor carry hundreds of boxes of bottled water from her car to her home. Living on the border of the historically Black 5th Ward, SantâAnna has noticed that some residents are concerned about their water quality.
âAt times in underserved communities of color, brown or Black, you have a lot of people investing in (bottled) water,â SantâAnna said. âYou have to put in your budget plastic bottled water, because you do not trust the water systems.â
SantâAnnaâs neighbor is one of many Evanston residents concerned about their drinking water. Home to Evanstonâs only waste transfer station, the 5th Ward specifically has suffered from discriminatory environmental policies that impact residentsâ air quality and health. While the reasons for distrust may vary, the 2014 Flint, Mich. water crisis renewed city-wide concern for lead in water.