Circle of Blue Reporter Brett Walton Interviewed about U.S. Water Infrastructure

Brett Walton was featured on radio program about Flint lead crisis and America’s drinking water

On January 25, Circle of Blue reporter Brett Walton spoke with Minnesota Public Radio about America’s drinking water infrastructure and how the Flint lead contamination crisis comes at a time when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is updating federal lead regulations.

Compared to roads and bridges, water pipes are not as visible a problem, Walton told host Kerri Miller. “They are not quite a showcase project,” he said. “You can’t slap a plaque on water pipes. And it is the pipes that are in the biggest need. They travel for thousands of miles through a city.”

Walton was joined on the 40-minute program by Robert Glennon, a professor of law and public policy at the University of Arizona.

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton