Everyone needs their lead pipes replaced, not just those who can afford it

Editor’s note: April 2020 update – EDF advocates Congress funding $ 45 billion for drinking water utilities to completely replace pipelines across the country.

Across the country, over 9 million households still get their drinking water from a lead pipe. Given our growing understanding of the risks of even minor lead exposure in children and adults – and the benefits of reducing exposure – replacing these lead service lines is a breeze.

Two new analyzes highlight the need to make lead pipe replacement a national priority and develop programs to prevent disproportionate effects on low-income and colored communities.

Exchange of lead pipes and environmental justice

The standard approach to line replacement performed during infrastructure repair work is to replace the line that is on public property but leave the portion on private property untouched unless the resident pays .

As a result of these “partial replacements”, residents run the risk of higher exposure to lead. It’s also a missed opportunity to see the long-term benefits and cost savings if you get it right the first time. While this is intuitively a big problem for justice, we wanted to test the theory in a scientific way.

With the assistance of EDF, American University researchers evaluated data on more than 3,400 lead replacement lines conducted in Washington, DC from 2009 to 2008. During this time, the water company had started a program to streamline the process: homeowners could have their pipes replaced during infrastructure projects or voluntarily outside of such planned work.

Researchers found [PDF] that the program had the unintended consequence of disproportionately affecting low-income and black households.

Fortunately, Washington, DC has a new policy that is taking steps to resolve the problem in the future while addressing the legacy problem. However, most of the 11,000 other cities with leading service lines have not taken such steps and are likely still using the Standardized Approach.

And proposed changes to the federal lead in water ordinance, the Lead and Copper Rule, could exacerbate environmental justice concerns and health justice disparities.

The link between lead exposure and heart disease

Lead exposure is not a hazard to children alone. Adults are also at greater risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. So far, we have not known what these results mean for the societal costs of lead and the benefits of reducing exposure.

In a new analysis, we used publicly available information from the Environmental Protection Agency to quantify the benefits of replacing all leading service lines. We found that each line replaced pays off $ 22,000 in fewer cardiovascular deaths – that’s more than $ 205 billion over 35 years.

This astonishing number underscores the need for a national commitment to lead pipe replacement that does not leave vulnerable communities behind in deciding how to fund this replacement.

It is now time for a renewed national commitment

These analyzes come at a critical time as the EPA finalizes the revision of the lead and copper rule. The agency proposed changes in 2019 that, while progress, fell short in a number of ways, including by keeping line replacement a last resort rather than an integral part of a long-term plan to protect consumers.

EDF submitted extensive comments asking the Agency to strengthen the rule, including providing key recommendations from our research, and we expect the EPA will incorporate our concerns into the final rule. However, it will be years before a new rule comes into effect.

In the meantime, cities and states should increasingly replace their senior service lines while securing funding and other support for low-income and colored communities. Fortunately, hundreds of communities across the country are taking steps in this area, and we’ve seen innovative approaches in Denver, Cincinnati, Washington, DC, and the state of Michigan.

The challenge of completely replacing the country’s leading service lines may be daunting, but as we now know, it makes not only common sense but also economic sense. Our new research shows how important it is that this work benefits all residents equally.

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