AT&T does not intend to immediately remove lead cables from Lake Tahoe | Hacker News Reader

AT&T does not intend to immediately remove lead cables from Lake Tahoe

reuters.com

20 pointsmfiguiere13 comments

It's so odd this story is being pushed. It's for the most part a non-issue. I would imagine that all of the old lead piping would have a much larger impact.

One reason seems to be that most people had no idea that this was even an issue. So kind of a "wait, what?" moment for a lot of folks.

From the original WSJ article:

>“A new, uncontrolled source of lead like old telephone cables may partly explain” why children continue to have lead in their blood, said Jack Caravanos, an environmental public-health professor at New York University, who assisted the Journal in its research. “We never knew about it so we never acted on it, unlike lead in paint and pipes.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/lead-cables-telecoms-att-toxic-...

What is the mechanism of exposure?

Well Lake Tahoe supplies the drinking water to much of Northern Nevada and Northern California. If the lead is improperly shielded or shielding has eroded then it's a pretty straightforward journey from there.

Except drinking water (and lake tahoe water) is regularly tested.

The dog that isn't barking is the lead level results of these tests.

> Except drinking water (and lake tahoe water) is regularly tested.

Ask the Flint residents.

> The dog that isn't barking is the lead level results of these tests.

Tests results depend on the test procedure.

Lake Tahoe holds a truly massive amount of water. 37 trillion gallons of water. Mercury and arsenic contamination from all the abandon mines is a much bigger issue, and that isn't even a real risk to drinking water. (I get my water from the Truckee river)

Is there no lead in the rock on which the lake sits? (i have no idea how to look that up)

>Shares of AT&T this week hit their lowest level in 30 years

So, they are pushing this because someone is shorting the company.

That would seem pretty likely to me. Only reason I can really think of.

I can't tell if this is a sarcastic comment, but (a) companies are always being shorted and (b) that's not the only reason a stock price goes down.

Even if this is a non-issue, AT&T agreed to do it: "The company in 2021 agreed to remove lead-clad telecommunications cables from Lake Tahoe"

Then they should be taken to task until they follow through. Period.

This story is totally a distraction from some real shit going on in the world huh

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