There are an estimated 6.1 to 9.3 million lead service lines – pipes carrying drinking water – across the country. Ohio is second in the nation for lead service lines at an estimated 650,000 lead service lines carrying water to families’ homes, second only to IL. While it is unclear how much money it will really take to fully remove lead service lines in Ohio, on the low end it can run approximately $2,400 a line and on the high end approximately $7,100 a line, which could mean anywhere from $1.95 B to $4.62 B over 20 years to fully replace the lead service lines. 

Recently the Ohio EPA announced up to $20 million in grant-like funding to eligible lead service line replacement projects through the state’s Drinking Water Assistance Fund for fiscal years (July 1st – June 30th) 2021 and 2022. Communities can receive up to $1 million per a year. The funding criteria does require the replacement of both the public and private lead service line. The private service line is the line that runs generally from the curb of your house inside the house. 

Is your community taking advantage of this funding? Call your local elected officials to find out. 


As a mom I worry about my children and as a scientist and environmentalist, I probably know too much to taper my worrying. I worry about the food they are eating, about their mental and social well-being, and about what is in the water they are drinking. I worry so much, that when news of Flint, MI and then Sebring, OH’s lead-in-water crisis broke, I called their school districts’ operation manager to find out the last time they tested for lead in the school system. I also made my husband watch the documentary made about the Flint water crisis – there was a lot of anger and tension that night watching the documentary and rightfully so. 

No parent should ever have to worry if their child is unbeknownst to them being poisoned by lead. When I watched and heard stories about parents unknowingly giving their children water tainted with lead, it brought me to my knees. I saw and heard their pain and I knew the lives of these families had been changed forever. This is why I work so hard with my colleagues daily to fully remove lead service lines from communities across the Great Lakes and to make sure those unable to afford to replace their private water lead service line have access to grant funding. It is also why Freshwater Future trains community members on how to take action and protect themselves, while also working to change policies. It is why I, and my colleagues, also work with partners across the Great Lakes that deal with lead in paint, because we know we must take a one-touch approach to removing lead from houses completely. 

 

Author: Kristy Meyer, Freshwater Future Director of Policy

Original Article

Blog – Freshwater Future

Blog – Freshwater Future

https://freshwaterfuture.org/uncategorized/ohio-environmental-protection-agency-provides-funding-for-lead-service-line-replacement/

Alexis Smith

Protecting our children and family from lead based products go back as far as we can remember. In 1978, the use of lead based paint was banned inside buildings. During those times, great harm was discovered when the paint began to crack and chip, due to the bumping and rubbing against walls and window sills. Breaking down into dust and contaminating the air with microscopic particles unseen to the eye and inhaled, thus elevating blood lead levels and risk of lead poisoning. Air quality within the family’s home once compromised has been corrected and readjusted for a safer and healthier home by using water-based paint. Be that as it may, lead continues to persist as an everyday challenge for people within their home, if it is not the air being compromised, it’s their drinking water.

Lead service lines (LSL) have been known to increase the lead content within our drinking water for centuries. In 1986, new LSL’s were banned to be installed though existing lines were permitted to stay. Instead of removing them completely alternative strategies were implemented such as lining the pipes with a corrosion control solution to reduce the amount of lead leaching into the water, partial lead line replacement, and a federal lead regulation disallowing lead levels in water to surpass 15 parts per billion (ppb). 

The Center of Disease Control (CDC) pronounced the partial lead line replacement could backfire and substantially increase the content of lead in water. Similar to lead paint, if the LSL is disturb it would release higher concentrations of lead than if the pipe remained static. Making full lead line replacement superior.

To be clear there is no safe level of lead in your water, and full lead line replacement is the best option to eliminate lead from our water. However, the greater the concentration of lead the greater risk of health impairments. According to the CDC, exposure to high levels of lead may cause anemia, weakness, kidney and brain damage. Very high lead exposure can cause death. Lead can cross the placental barrier, which means pregnant women who are exposed to lead also expose their unborn child. Lead can damage a developing baby’s nervous system. Children who survive severe lead poisoning may be left with mental retardation and behavioural disorders that include but are not limited to increased aggression which may lead to more violence, and a decreased IQ level. 

Equitable opportunities sit at the heart of Freshwater Future’s core values. Lead is a serious issue and all communities should be given the proper care and resources to protect themselves and their family. That is why Freshwater Future has created a slew of content regarding lead to serve as an additional resource hub for community members looking for more information on how to protect their families and their drinking water from lead exposure.

 

Author: Brandon Tyus, Freshwater Future Community Programming & Policy Associate

Original Article

Blog – Freshwater Future

Blog – Freshwater Future

https://freshwaterfuture.org/uncategorized/how-the-lead-did-we-get-here/

Alexis Smith

Junction Coalition, a Toledo Community Organization, has partnered with Freshwater Future to tackle water related issues such as: lead service lines, harmful algae blooms (HABS), water disconnection, and many more water related disparities directly and indirectly impacting minority and low socioeconomic communities the most. 

Collaborating on the many topics threatening the community; another partner, Blue Conduit, presents themselves to Freshwater Future, pitching a focus on lead line identification utilizing artificial intelligence. Using records provided by the city and water department, assimilates the information and produces a predictive algorithm to better, and more accurately pinpoint lead lines throughout the city before a single hole has to be dug. Junction Coalition went to the city urging them to permit the strategy while demonstrating the benefits of cost effectiveness and efficiency resulting in more productive uses of their time and resources. Replacing lead lines can cost approximately $3,000 – $10,000 per home which can be expensive when using a portion of funds for trial and error locating lead lines which became very clear to the city thus making Blue Conduit the superior option.

Experts from all around the city pooled together their time, expertise, and resources from University of Toledo, Lucas County Health Department, the City, Blue Conduit, Freshwater Future, and Junction Coalition to devise a plan to appropriate the funding necessary to utilize artificial intelligence to pinpoint lead lines. Once the plan was conjured it was sent to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) with the funding request led by the city of Toledo entitled Using Artificial Intelligence to Reduce Lead Exposure proposal. This past Monday the Director of Environmental Justice Environmental Protection Agency, Matthew Tajeda, responded to the fund with an approval of $200,000 for the proposal. Granting the proposal permits Blue Conduit to generate more actionable data faster for the city of Toledo and allow them to accelerate the removal of lead lines while developing and implementing an educational campaign aimed at the most vulnerable communities to reduce the exposure to lead from residents as they replace the lines within Toledo. 

The City, BlueConduit, Freshwater Future, The University of Toledo, Toledo-Lucas County Health Department and local partners therefore propose this project with the goal of reducing lead exposure, through well-tested, data-driven prioritization techniques. Using a predictive model, this project will assess home-by-home water service line material probabilities based on existing parcel and neighborhood-level data and a representative sample of water service lines in the city taken by the project team. These probabilities will guide which homes should receive targeted education, water filters and ultimately the prioritization of the lead service line (LSL) replacement program. Throughout the entirety of this project, stakeholder meetings will be held and educational materials will be created with a focus on these high-risk communities, with the goal of minimizing resident lead exposure. This proposal, led by the City, combines the technical task of identifying lead lines, conducted by Blue Conduit, with a community education effort, to be implemented by the non-profit Freshwater Future.

For this project, Freshwater Future will work with grassroots community groups in Toledo to reach residents in the most vulnerable neighborhoods (6 identified residential environmental justice communities) to disseminate information and educational materials about lead in water; proper filter use and maintenance; reducing exposure during lead line replacements; and community participatory actions for water quality control. Freshwater Future is prepared to provide an online platform of education and services to ensure the safety of community members and supplement with on-the-ground when possible. Freshwater Future will work with community partners regarding public health and water quality as it relates to disenfranchised communities.  We will provide four video-trainings for communities on water filter installation, proper filter use and maintenance.  The training will provide background on health impacts of lead exposure and access to community and health department resources.  Instruction on using personal protective equipment during pandemics will be covered. These training will benefit all partners through education, navigation of resources and public health. In addition, we will provide training on collection of water samples for lead analysis and test up to 60 homes identified through the Blue Conduit mapping process. 

Freshwater Future brings extensive experience in working with grassroots community groups and environmental justice communities following a strict code of principles for collaborating with community.  As mentioned earlier, we have worked for several years on helping communities with lead in water issues.  We are also fortunate to have staff members who are Toledo residents with deep ties to several of the targeted communities, starting from a position of shared trust.  In addition, we will provide funding for the citizen science testing of resident wells.

We look forward to being a part of this innovative project to provide critical data that the City of Toledo can use to ultimately speed-up lead line replacements, reducing lead exposure to Toledo’s most vulnerable residents while engaging residents in understanding more about water threats and actions that protect public health.

Original Article

Blog – Freshwater Future

Blog – Freshwater Future

https://freshwaterfuture.org/uncategorized/city-of-toledo-receives-epa-grant-to-utilize-artificial-intelligence-to-identify-lead-water-lines/

Alexis Smith

Department of Public Utilities Is Awarded $50,000 For Full Lead Line Repair to families living without their water during COVID-19

The City of Toledo, Department of Neighborhood awarded the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) $50,000 in support of full lead line repair to residents who are currently living without running water in their home. The funding comes from a  Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), making it possible for homeowners to receive financial aid in repairing damaged pipes leading into their home which otherwise would abstain them from water reconnection. Working together with the community ensures that residents are protected and supported by the lead line repair program as it relates to equitable opportunity, water security, and access to clean drinking water. 

The Toledo Community Water Council has played a key role in fighting against water injustices to ensure that the decrease in water disparities is parallel with inclusion and equitable treatment of Toledo ratepayers. The Toledo Community Water Council has taken the initiative to collaborate with the municipality and local institutions to identify challenges as they arise as well as uncovering solutions to better serve the community during the lead line repair process. For example, the Council engages homeowners through education on the present opportunities of water restoration through getting the lead line repaired, pinpointing homes that need the service while collecting existing data from the institutions and municipalities for better accuracy, and holistically support the work needed to replace outdated water infrastructure for residents struggling for water quality within their homes. Toledo, once a city only willing to engage in partial lead line replacement, which could inadvertently increase the lead content within the homeowners’ water, heeds the collective knowledge and insight of the Toledo Community Water Council. When DPU locates a home with lead pipes they are prepared to replace them. The community has been persistent in advocating for full lead line repair, and those families living without water and with lead lines not yet located will also receive full lead line replacement in addition to repairs. The Toledo Community Water Council will also be providing oversight and community support to the DPU to ensure their actions are held accountable and all residents are aware of opportunities. 

Original Article

Blog – Freshwater Future

Blog – Freshwater Future

https://freshwaterfuture.org/uncategorized/toledo-water-council-fully-supports-the-50000-grant-for-full-lead-line-repair/

Alexis Smith