In a statement, the EPA said events in Flint and elsewhere have raised questions about how the lead rule has been implemented. Dozens of systems have exceeded the standard 10 times or more in the last quarter-century, including in Portland, Oregon and Providence, Rhode Island, the data shows. вЂњItвЂ™s like, вЂHey, we have to tell you this may or may not be happening.вЂ™ ItвЂ™s bogus.вЂќД¬ritics say the current rule has not done enough to protect public health or to inform individual homeowners about risks. вЂњItвЂ™s so downplayed,вЂќ Zielke said, standing outside her motherвЂ™s home on a street where testing revealed high amounts of lead. Whitney Zielke, 32, said her mother вЂњfreaked outвЂќ after receiving that notice but that she didnвЂ™t know what to think. The notice added that recent testing showed the standard had been exceeded вЂњby a narrow margin.вЂќ In reality, lead levels were 1.5 times the standard.

Its notice said that a chemical added to the water since 1993 has been effective in reducing the lead levels and resulted in вЂњlead compliance since 2010,вЂќ a misleading statement since no testing was required in 20. The city followed EPA guidelines by informing residents of the situation two months later. The city discovered its most recent problem last fall, when 7 out of 40 samples came back at unacceptable levels. Lead-based plumbing fixtures that were common in homes built before 1980 also contribute. City officials say their ground water and water mains are lead-free, but the toxin enters the supply in service lines that deliver water from the streets to 4,700 homes. In Galesburg, a community of 31,000 about 200 miles southwest of Chicago, lead levels have exceeded the federal standard in 22 out of 30 testing periods since 1992. If more than 10 percent of sampled high-risk homes are above that level, water agencies must inform customers about the problem and take steps such as adding chemicals to control corrosion and prevent leaching of the lead. While no amount of lead exposure is considered safe, the rule calls for water systems to keep levels below 15 parts per billion. Details of the EPA data were first reported by USA Today. The AP reviewed 25 years of sampling data reported by 75,000 drinking water systems that are subject to a federal lead rule that took effect in 1991. вЂњIвЂ™m very close to this and didnвЂ™t know it. вЂњMost people in Galesburg are not really being told that there is a problem,вЂќ said Schwartzman, an environmental scientist.

But city councilor Peter Schwartzman called the APвЂ™s findings alarming. Galesburg officials downplay the waterвЂ™s potential contribution to lead poisoning, which can affect childrenвЂ™s mental development. The affected systems are large and small, public and private, and include 278 systems that are owned and operated by schools and day care centers in 41 states. An Associated Press analysis of Environmental Protection Agency data found that nearly 1,400 water systems serving 3.6 million Americans exceeded the federal lead standard at least once between Jan.

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