Sept 6 (Reuters) – AT&T’s (T.N) CEO mentioned on Wednesday exams performed at a number of websites the place the telecom operator deserted lead-clad cables many years in the past have proven no dangers of a public well being disaster.

The firm and Verizon (VZ.N) have confronted questions concerning the cables for the reason that Wall Street Journal reported in July that the telecom corporations left behind a community of underground poisonous lead cables which could have contaminated water and soil.

“I said early on in this and I’ll still say today, we don’t believe that there’s a public health crisis right now,” AT&T CEO John Stankey mentioned on the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference.

The exams, performed by the likes of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state of New York, at among the websites talked about within the Journal article, together with Lake Tahoe, have concluded that there was no risk to public well being, he mentioned.

“We’ll make adjustments if something suggests that we need to make an adjustment,” he mentioned, including the corporate was working with regulators on the cables.

AT&T shares had been buying and selling 1.8% greater, bucking broader market weak point.

The firm has beforehand mentioned that the lead cables made up solely a small a part of its wireline community.

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