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Janesville’s City Manager is defending a City Council decision this week to requiring property owners to remove privately owned lead water lines. Mark Freitag says the individual property owners aren’t the only people being exposed to that lead. Freitag says the lead lines are a hazard for everyone because when City workers depressurize the water lines to do repairs, water from individual homes flows back into the system. Freitag says the City has cost assistance and grants available to help residents pay for the cost of replacement which typically runs around $5000 or less. Brenden Moore, State Journal Register
See the full article here. Members of the Springfield City Council are giving City Water, Light and Power the green light to borrow $1 million from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to help fund the utility’s effort to replace Springfield’s remaining lead service lines over the next 30 years. Council members voted in Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole meeting to place the ordinance on the consent agenda for next week’s City Council meeting, meaning it is all but assured of passage. Basically, if awarded by the state, the funds would be used to assist low-income home owners in the replacement of the customer-owned portion of the service line along with contracting work to repair streets, sidewalks and landscaping impacted by construction. Patch.com
See the full article and video here. Some 450 homes in Somerville have lead in their drinking water – 3.6 percent of all homes – and their residents have been drinking lead laden water for years. Next spring, the Engineering Division will finally begin replacing those pipes, thanks to a state program. Construction Liaison and Compliance Manager, Jesse Moos explained that the City of Somerville (Official) will select 70 priority residents during the first phase of the program that will begin April 2020. The contractors will perform "excavation" which is an extraction of the pipe without having to dig up the entire length of the pipe, he said. David Hunter, NJ Biz
See the full article here. Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill into law on Thursday to allow municipalities to enter New Jersey homes to replace lead service pipes. Under the law, a municipality is authorized to enter a person’s property to perform lead service line replacements after providing notice to the owner and any residents at least 72 hours in advance of scheduled work. Assembly Democrats Eliana Pintor Marin, D-29th District; Shanique Speight, D-29th District; and Gary Schaer, D-36th District, sponsored Assembly Bill 5854 that became law immediately. WGIL
Galesburg residents, especially households in which a child has tested positive for elevated lead blood levels, are strongly encouraged to apply for the next round of the Lead Hazard Remediation Grant. The program has started providing lead hazard remediation at no cost to homeowners and tenants. In the fall, WGIL reported that thus far, 1,300 lead service lines have been replaced – and another 500 are slated for replacement by March. The program targets low-to-moderate-income, privately-owned, owner-occupied and rental units throughout the community. A family of four can qualify for the grant with an annual income of $52,050 or less. In order to be considered for the program, homes must be located within the city limits of Galesburg, be built before 1978, and contain lead-based paint hazards. “I did a number-stat thing a couple of years ago (and) 80% of the housing stock (in Galesburg) was built before 1978 and that’s when lead paint was outlawed,” said Housing Coordinator Judy Gunseth. “We haven’t had a lot of new construction, so a lot of our dwellings do test positive for lead paint. We also have the issue that many of the subdivided older homes are subdivided into rental units. Low-income people are in those rental units and a lot of times there are small children with them too.” Applicants who are unsure if their home or rental unit have lead-based paint hazards, or if they meet program criteria are encouraged to submit an application for review. An assessment of any lead-based paint hazards in the home will be conducted as part of the application process. A link to the City’s website for lead applications is here. The Evening Sun
NORWICH – The City of Norwich Department of Public Works (DPW) announced at the common council meeting Monday night they will begin work to replace all lead water pipes throughout the city. According to DPW Superintendent Edward Pepe, this will be a two year project with most of the replacements taking place in the summer of 2020 and 2021. The city is recommending homeowners who have lead pipes to participate in the replacement program this year, so the city can be compensated by the state for improvements. See the full article from The Evening Sun. The Denver Post
See the original article here. Denver Water’s 15-year plan to replace all lead service pipes connecting homes to water mains can begin on a trial basis, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials decided this week. The utility estimates that 64,000 to 84,000 homes receive water through lead pipes, said CEO and Manager Jim Lochhead. Replacing the pipes could cost about $500 million. Lead is linked to developmental disabilities and other long-term health problems. Levels of the heavy metal spiked in Denver’s water system in 2012, triggering a series of tests that ultimately led to the replacement plan, Lochhead said. “We’re planning to start pulling lead service lines from the system starting around February 1,” Lochhead said. “And we will also be distributing filters to a little over 100,000 homes just after the first of the year.” Chicago Tribune
Aurora is moving toward replacing more lead water pipes in the public right-of-way. The City Council’s Infrastructure and Technology Committee this week recommended adopting unit prices for the replacement of what are called “long side" lead water service lines from within the city’s right-of-way. WKOW
JANESVILLE (WKOW) -- Janesville's city council is considering an ordinance that would offer free lead water pipe replacements to some residents. Wisconsin cities do not commonly offer complimentary lateral work and state laws seem purposefully designed to prevent such deals. But, Janesville found a clever dodge. "We're a government agency, so we know to avoid government agencies," said David Botts, the city's utility director. The solution to evading Wisconsin lead lateral replacement rules: don't give out money via the water utility. See the original article from The Island Now.
North Hempstead Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth and the Town Board members would like to remind residents that the Town will fund the replacement of residential drinking water lead service lines as part of New York’s Clean Water Infrastructure Act of 2017. In 2018, the Town was awarded a $611,363 Lead Service Line Replacement Program, or, LSLRP grant to assist with the cost of the water line replacement for eligible homes. Water mains maintained by the various water districts in the Town of North Hempstead have all since been replaced, however, individual lead service lines connecting homes to these mains may still exist. Lead in service lines primarily existed in homes constructed before 1939. This program would allow for those individual service lines to be replaced and would cover the cost to do so. |
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