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NBC 5 Chicago
See the full article. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced new assistance programs to help qualifying homeowners replace lead water lines across Chicago. The Equity Lead Service Line Replacement Program will provide full replacement for low-income residents that own and live in their home, have a household income below 80-percent of the median income and have consistent lead concentrations above 15 ppb in their water, according to a press release from the Mayor's office. “The water in Chicago is safe, and is in full compliance with all federal, state and industry standards,” Lightfoot reassured during Thursday’s press conference. “What we are talking about today, however, is making sure that we go even further to ensure the safety and health of our residents in the future.” The city will cover costs in full if a qualified homeowner opts-in to the program and will be paid for by up to $15 million in community development block grant funds in 2021. “Lead service lines are a legacy issue that we need to start chipping away at now and that happens by moving in the right direction in a responsible way,’ Lightfoot said. “I want to be clear that doing the extensive network of legacy lead service lines is a steep and costly mountain that we will need to climb.” Under the program, qualified homeowners will receive a replacement of the service line from the water main up to the home and homes and two flats will receive a water meter if there is not already one installed, according to the press release. Also on Thursday, the city announced an additional program called the Homeowner-Initiated Lead Service Line Replacement Program that will waive permit fees for homeowners to hire an outside contractor to conduct the lead pipe replacement. Water Quality Products
CRISTINA TUSER See the full article. $11 million in funding will allow Bennington, Vermont to replace about 1,575 lead pipes that carry drinking water into homes. This comes at no cost to residents, according to VTDigger. Each line will each require their own removal plans. In response to the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, federal legislators created the Water Infrastructure Fund Transfer Act. This allows states to transfer money from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. “As far as we know, this is a one-time opportunity to transfer that money,” said Megan Young, drinking water capacity program supervisor at the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. “It’s never happened before, and my understanding is there aren’t plans for that moving forward.” The state finalized its intended use plan for the two water funds on Jul. 16, according to the Vermont Official State Website. See the full article. Emma Cotton
Vermont Digger See the full article. BENNINGTON — Thanks to a one-time, $11 million funding opportunity, Bennington plans to replace about 1,575 lead pipes that carry drinking water into homes, at no cost to residents. Largely in response to the water crisis in Flint, Mich., federal legislators devised the Water Infrastructure Fund Transfer Act, which allows states to transfer money from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which is used primarily for infrastructure projects that improve the health of streams and lakes, to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. “As far as we know, this is a one-time opportunity to transfer that money,” said Megan Young, drinking water capacity program supervisor at the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. “It’s never happened before, and my understanding is there aren’t plans for that moving forward.” The project became official when the state finalized an intended use plan for the two water funds on July 16. Construction will begin in the fall; the work is expected to take several years. Responsibility for the replacements could have otherwise fallen to residents — the pipes are on private property — at a cost between $5,000 and $15,000 per installation. See the full article. Some residents in Denver's metro area have been receiving new water pitchers in the mail, courtesy of Denver Water. The agency serves around 1.5 million people in the region, and began its 15-year Lead Reduction Program at the end of July. The agency delivers lead-free water, but lead can get into drinking water as it moves through customer-owned service lines and plumbing fixtures, officials said. Denver Water is identifying which properties have a lead service line, and sending those residents information, along with a Brita water pitcher and filter that is certified to remove lead. To protect customers from lead in drinking water, Denver Water raised the pH of the water in March to reduce corrosivity, and the agency will be replacing all customer-owned lead service lines over the next 15 years at no direct cost to the customer, officials said. See the full article for more. Mike Koury
C&G Newspapers See the full article. FERNDALE — The Ferndale City Council unanimously approved a request from its Department of Public Works to submit an application to the state for a $10 million loan to conduct lead service line replacements. At its June 22 meeting, the council held a public hearing to discuss a possible loan from the state of Michigan’s Drinking Water Revolving Fund, which comes from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, known as EGLE. As DPW Deputy Director Dan Antosik put it during the meeting, the state adopted in 2018 the most “stringent” Lead and Copper Rule in the country. Requirements from the LCR include additional water sample testing for lead and copper, the identification of water service line material across the community by 2025, and the replacement of all lead and galvanized service lines at an average rate of 5% per year over the next 20 years. Antosik said Ferndale has been in compliance with all state reporting when it comes to lead levels not exceeding EGLE’s action level of 15 parts per billion. See the full article. The Oakland Press
See the full article By Mark Cavitt The Oakland County Water Resource Commissioner's (WRC) Office is planning to replace over 8,000 lead water lines in the City of Pontiac over the next 20 years. Under the 2018 lead and copper rule signed into law by former Gov. Rick Snyder, public water providers statewide, including the WRC who overtook management of Pontiac's water system in 2015, are required to replace all lead water service lines within their service area by 2041. Around 40 percent of the city's water service lines are known to, or likely, contain lead, according to Jim Nash, Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner. The WRC has applied for $8.97 million in grant funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help replace 1,160 lead service lines from 2021 through 2024 at a cost of $9.97 million. This four-year project will impact 3,500 to 4,000 Pontiac residents. The entire project, expected to take 20 years, will cost between $45 million and $60 million and include the replacement of over 8,000 lead water service lines across the city, which includes residential and small businesses. See the full article. Fox31 News
See the full article. By Shaul Turner DENVER (KDVR) — If you live in an area with older water pipes, you may be getting a notice saying they’ll soon be replaced.Denver Water’s Lead Reduction Plan was approved by the Environmental Protection Agency in December. The project could cost up to $500 million. Homes built before 1951 are more likely to have lead service lines. Denver Water estimates there are as many as 84,000 properties that may be affected. Denver Water crews install or replace an average of 106,000 feet of pipe each year. The program’s goal is to replace 140,000 feet of pipe a year by 2024. A top concern is lead caused by decades of corrosion. Water provided by the city is lead-free but once it gets into the pipe that brings it into the homeowner’s plumbing system, it can be exposed to lead if that pipe is old and needs to be replaced. See the full article. East Village Magazine
See the full article By Jan Worth-Nelson The City of Flint announced Tuesday that water pipeline replacement, paused the last two months by the coronavirus lockdowns, will resume this week. When work stopped in March, 9,554 lead or galvanized pipes had been replaced, part of the city’s infrastructure recovery from the water crisis triggered in 2014 when the lack of corrosion control in the pipes from Flint River water unleashed lead from old pipes into the bodies of Flint residents. What happened to the city, under state takeover at the time, was labeled a national disgrace in what some called the worst human-made environmental disaster of our lifetimes. A total of 25,409 pipes have been excavated in the water pipeline work, with 15,526 discovered to be copper lines not needing replacement. The work, funded by $100 million from the federal Water Infrastructure Improvement for the Nation (WIIN) fund, originally was scheduled to be completed by 2019, but “fell behind schedule during the previous administration,” of former Mayor Karen Weaver, and because of the COVID-shutdowns, according to the city’s press release. Weaver was defeated in 2019 by Sheldon Neeley. See the full article. The Batavian
By Mike Pettinella See the full article. The City of Batavia has tapped into a New York State program designed to help municipalities “get the lead out.” Batavia City Council members, at their Conference Meeting via Zoom tonight, are expected to hear from Public Works Director Matt Worth about a $554,112 grant the City has received from the NYS Department of Health’s Lead Service Line Replacement Plan. Worth said he and his staff have developed a work plan that is designed to replace 75 lead service lines on Swan, Hutchins and Otis streets on the City’s Southside. “We suspect that 20 to 30 percent of our residential services may still be lead -- from the water main to the curb shut-off,” Worth said. “We have never observed it from the curb shut-off into the house.” See the full article. Fox 11
See the full article. GREEN BAY (WLUK) – The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin unanimously approved a Lead Service Line Replacement Program for Green Bay Water Utility. This program is made possible through 2017 Leading on Lead Act. The Leading on Lead Act provides an innovative funding mechanism to address the problem of lead-laden water. The act allows governments to pass an ordinance to use ratepayer dollars for a low or no-interest loan or an up to 50 percent grant for private property owners to replace their lead service lines. As public health continues to be on the minds of Wisconsinites, a positive step was made today to address the issue of lead poisoning in Green Bay residents. The plan approved by the PSC isn’t Green Bay’s first effort to address lead-laden water, but today’s action lays a path to finish ridding their water infrastructure of lead service lines. This plan doesn’t just help residents with lead laterals, but the entire community will benefit as public health improves, creating long-term economic savings, and Utility costs decrease as anti-corrosive materials become less necessary and newer infrastructure reduces the risk of leaks or failures. See the full article. |
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