Common Council issues statement after Health Department fails to notify families of elevated lead levels
Posted: Jan 12, 2018 3:00 PM CST
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- On Friday members of the Common Council learned that officers of the Milwaukee Health Department failed to ensure adequate notification of thousands of families whose children tested positive for elevated lead levels in their blood.
In a statement the Common Council said, "This is an egregious public health failure that was in direct non-compliance with procedures put forth by Common Council resolution."
The Common Council says they will hold Mayor Barrett accountable for the failure and will do a thorough investigation of the Health Department.
"We will move forward to hold the executive branch accountable for this very serious failure and we will investigate in depth to determine what processes, procedures, or other matters, if any, have been ignored, not complied with, or have been mishandled by the Health Department. The protection of our children must remain our highest priority. Our review of this matter will be handled with a seriousness appropriate to a failure of this magnitude."
The Common Council will hold a meeting at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 17 to begin the fact-finding and review process.
