Lead service lines will be targeted for universal removal by 2037 to comply with lead levels in drinking water.
Earlier in November, a letter was sent out to city residents asking them to help determine whether or not their service lines were made of lead in a first-step effort to complete an inventory of lead or galvanized service lines.
Traditionally, the service line, or pipe connecting the water main to the property, is the property owner’s responsibility to replace.
However, language in the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Act allows municipalities in New York to apply for $10 million in grants and $10 million in no-interest loans through the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation to replace the service lines without cost to the homeowner.
Mike Marino, city engineering consultant through Nussbaumer & Clark, said that while the city does not have a complete inventory of lead and galvanized pipes, he was able to use data from areas known as “environmental justice areas” to apply for the grant through EFC.
“Every year the EFC releases intended use plan funds. We’ve gotten them before for the Gulf Sewer and Raw Water projects,” he said. “We decided to apply for these environmental justice areas because they have a high concentration of houses with lead service lines.”
Marino said that the work was done and he remained “cautiously optimistic.”
Then a letter arrived from the New York State Department of Health, saying the city was eligible for the funds.
Marino said that the next step is to get the city under contract with the EFC for the funds which could take up to a year, but once under contract, the city will be looking for bids from contractors and construction could begin as early as 2026.
In the meantime, more information from residents on their service lines will help the city apply for more grants for other areas. This grant, he said, will cover about 1,500 service lines and there are probably an additional 1,500 service lines in the city that need to be replaced.
“We’ll continue collecting data and use that to leverage for more grants,” he said.
According to the New York State Department of Health, the replacement of the targeted service lines will cost $20,477,044 and is one of 127 projects eligible for funding.