lead poisoning

The office of U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, has launched an investigation of health concerns among public housing units and homeless shelters across the city. Cases of elevated blood lead levels and false claims from housing and shelter officials will fall under the scrutiny of federal prosecutors, the New York Times reports.

In Newark, N.J., officials have closed the water lines for 30 schools in the Public Schools system due to the discovery of lead and discoloration. In a Wednesday announcement, New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection and school district are using water from other sources, the Huffington Post reports.

No announcements of a criminal investigation have been announced, despite calls for Gov. Rick Snyder to resign.

Over 30 troops will be on the ground by Friday to hand out water bottles, filters and testing kits to the homes of almost 100,000 residents.

The National Guard has been deployed to help distribute water bottles following the lead contamination of Flint, Michigan's drinking water.

This preventable issue can wreak permanent damage to a child's health and mental capabilities. It is also an issue that city authorities promised they would fix six years ago.