In Dunkirk, New York, special‑education teacher Kathryn Pilgrim replaced the visible pipes in her Victorian home but still cannot confirm whether the underground service line that connects to the city water main contains lead. The city, which provides water to about 5,000 homes and businesses, is nearly two years behind the EPA‑mandated inventory deadline.
Statewide inventory shortfall
According to an Associated Press analysis of EPA enforcement data, more than 1,300 public water systems across the United States missed the October 2024 deadline to submit a complete list of their service‑line materials. Roughly 6,300 systems serving 3.8 million Americans have yet to provide the required information.
In New York, the city of Buffalo reports that 45 % of its service lines are made of lead—the third‑highest rate among major cities—while neighboring Fredonia lists 28 % lead lines. These figures underscore the urgency for local utilities to identify and replace hazardous infrastructure.
Trump administration’s role
The EPA has highlighted the inventory effort as a key environmental success of the Trump administration. About three‑quarters of the drinking‑water enforcement orders issued since President Trump returned to office have centered on missing inventories. The administration has also defended the aggressive 2027 replacement deadline, originally enacted under the Biden administration, in federal court, emphasizing the need to protect children’s health and public safety.
Rob Hayes, senior director of Environmental Advocates of New York, called the lead‑removal effort “a rare environmental regulation the Trump administration has not sought to scrap,” noting its broad bipartisan support.
Local challenges and solutions
Many of the utilities lacking inventories are small, serving fewer than 500 customers. They often include housing developments, mobile‑home parks, and schools. In Chicago, the water quality director, Patrick Schwer, described a massive data‑mining effort to locate clues about unknown service‑line materials, acknowledging that about one in ten lines remain unidentified.
Experts advise residents with homes built before 1986—when lead service lines were banned under the Safe Drinking Water Act—to assume their lines contain lead and to use certified filters, run taps before drinking, and cook with cold water.
Cost and funding
Replacing lead service lines is costly, with estimates ranging from $8,000 to $15,000 per line. Starting in 2027, utilities must replace at least 10 % of their lead lines each year, a target that includes lines of unknown material. Erica Galante‑Johnson, a lead‑policy analyst with the Environmental Policy Innovation Center, warned that “the more unknowns, the more lines a system needs to replace every year.”
Funding for identification and replacement largely comes from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, which allocated federal dollars to states for lead‑pipe projects. This year marks the final year of dedicated federal funding, though previously allocated money will continue to flow to communities.
What residents can do
Even an incomplete inventory can alert homeowners to potential lead exposure, allowing them to take precautionary steps such as using high‑quality filters and flushing taps. Advocates stress that leaving residents in the dark is “unforgivable,” and urge local officials to prioritize data collection and transparent communication.
As the 2027 deadline looms, water utilities across New York and the nation face a critical test of their ability to protect public health while navigating funding constraints and regulatory requirements.
Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.
