EDF Health

Top 10 cities with the most lead pipes

By and / Published: June 6, 2023

Roya Alkafaji, Manager, Healthy Communities and Tom Neltner, Senior Director, Safer Chemicals Initiative

EDF identified 10 cities in the U.S. with the most lead service lines (LSLs) based on numbers reported in 2021.[1] These cities collectively have over one million LSLs, representing 12% of the 9.2 million EPA estimates are in the country.

Below we rank each city from most LSLs to fewest, and briefly describe the progress each city has made toward LSL replacement. Some have robust programs, while others have yet to start addressing the problem.

The List

1. Chicago, IL

Chicago Department of Water Management reported 387,095 LSLs in 2021, more than twice as many as the next city on this list. Three-quarters of its service lines are LSLs, and virtually all the rest are of unknown material. City ordinance actually mandated that LSLs be installed until the federal government banned them in 1986.

Decades later, Chicago is struggling to pull itself out of a deep hole relative to most other large cities that took earlier action against lead pipes. Chicago has a small LSL replacement program but applied for a $336 million loan from EPA in 2020[2] and $8 million in state revolving funds (SRF) from Illinois EPA in 2023 to accelerate the effort.

2. Cleveland, OH

Cleveland Water reported 185,409 LSLs in 2021, about 43% of all its service lines.

The utility has a small LSL replacement program but is seeking more than $63 million in federal infrastructure funding from Ohio EPA in 2023 to accelerate the effort.

3. New York, NY

New York City reported 137,542 LSLs in 2021 and an additional 230,870 lines that are of unknown material. About 43% of the city’s service lines are lead or of unknown material.

It has a small LSL replacement program and is seeking more than $58 million in federal infrastructure funding from New York State DEP in 2023 to accelerate the effort.

4. Detroit, MI

Detroit Water and Sewerage Department reported 79,617 LSLs in 2021 and an additional 28,922 lines that are of unknown material. About one-third of its service lines are lead or of unknown material.

With support from the Detroit mayor and funding from the State and EPA, the utility has an excellent LSL replacement program that is designed to replace 5,000 lines in 2023 and ramp up to 10,000 per year starting in 2024.

5. Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee Water Works reported 74,099 LSLs in 2021, about 45% of its service lines.

The utility has a modest LSL replacement program that replaced 1,200 LSLs in 2023 and aims to ramp up to 2,200 replacements by 2025. They are seeking more than $16 million in federal infrastructure funding from Wisconsin DNR in 2023 to accelerate the effort.

6. Denver, CO

Denver Water reported 63,955 LSLs in 2021 and an additional 8,791 service lines that are of unknown material. About one-quarter of its service lines are lead or of unknown material.

The utility has a model LSL replacement program that replaced 5,000 lines in 2022, ramping up to more than 8,000 per year starting in 2023. The program’s success would likely move Denver down to 9th place on the list.

7. St. Louis, MO

City of St. Louis Water Division reported 63,000 LSLs in 2021. About half of its service lines are lead.

The city does not appear to have an active LSL replacement program according to its website or applied for funding from Missouri’s SRF program.

8. Indianapolis, IN

Citizens Energy Group reported 55,060 LSLs in 2021 and an additional 20,000 lines that are of unknown material. About 20% of the city’s service lines are lead or of unknown material.

The utility currently has a modest LSL replacement program and has requested $95.7 million in federal infrastructure funding from Indiana Finance Authority in 2023 to accelerate the effort.

9. Minneapolis, MN

Minneapolis reported 48,502 LSLs in 2021 and an additional 3,906 lines that are of unknown material. About half of the city’s service lines are lead or of unknown material.

The city currently has a small LSL replacement program but is seeking more than $49 million in federal infrastructure funding from Minnesota Public Facilities Authority in 2023 to accelerate the effort. It is expected to receive a significant share of the $240 million in state funding over the next ten years to remove lead pipes.

10. Cincinnati, OH

Greater Cincinnati Water Works reported 40,214 LSLs in 2021 and an additional 2,863 that are of unknown material. About 18% of its service lines are lead or of unknown material.

The utility has a model LSL replacement program that replaces about 2,000 lines a year and plans to ramp up in 2023. Based on its 2022 success, updated reporting would likely push the utility out of the top 10 list.

Why It Matters

If we are to make significant progress toward reaching the White House’s goal of eliminating LSLs by 2032, utilities in these cities must deliver results.

Next Steps

In the coming years, we will focus our advocacy on accelerating LSL replacement in these 10 cities by highlighting progress and problems and engaging community leaders and local elected officials.

 

[1] Reporting based on utility responses to 7th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Assessment Survey available as of May 13, 2023, in response to a FOIA request by NRDC. Data for New York City was exported from NYC OpenData’s LSL Location Coordinates on July 7, 2021 and counted service lines designated as potential lead as lead.

[2] Chicago Department of Water Management has applied for a $336 million loan from EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program to replace LSLs and water mains.

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Mapping Lead: Ohio issues map of properties with known lead hazards

By / Published: May 25, 2023

Tom Neltner, Senior Director, Safer Chemicals Initiative, and Roya Alkafaji, Manager, Healthy Communities

What Happened: The Ohio Department of Health published an interactive map showing almost 1,200 properties whose owners have refused to comply with an order to correct known lead-based paint hazards. As a result, the Department has declared these properties are unsafe to live in until the hazards have been remediated.

Why It Matters: The availability of address-specific information is important to engage residents, potential home buyers, and renters so they can make better informed decisions about protecting their families from harmful lead exposure. Ohio is the second state after New Jersey that we’re aware of to move beyond neighborhood-level mapping of lead risks to provide specific information at the address level.

Currently, the map doesn’t include information on the locations of lead service lines in Ohio, which are the main source of lead in drinking water. We anticipate the State will make this information available when the drinking water utilities submit the data to Ohio EPA in October 2024.

In the meantime, we encourage Ohio state agencies to add more information on sources of lead exposure, such as lead service lines, lead-contaminated soil, and nearby commercial operations that release lead, as well as details on lead poisoning prevention requirements. By doing so, the map will become a critical tool in the effort to comprehensively consider lead risks and drive exposure closer to zero.

Our Take: The mapping project is another example of leadership on preventing lead poisoning. Other states should consider adopting similar mapping projects to benefit their residents.

Go Deeper: Our Mapping Lead blog series highlights ways in which interactive, address-level maps help families and communities take action to reduce lead exposure. If you are interested in learning more about what a lead exposure map like Ohio’s or New Jersey’s could look like in your community take a look at existing maps:

 

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Denver Water proves its Lead Reduction Program is a national model

By / Published: January 3, 2023

Tom Neltner, Senior Director, Safer Chemicals and Lindsay McCormick, Senior Manager, Safer Chemicals

What’s New: After an extensive review process, EPA approved Denver Water’s request to extend the variance to allow the utility to administer their Lead Reduction Program for the full 15-year term. EPA touts Denver Water’s Lead Reduction Program as an “innovative and aggressive approach” to lead service line replacement (LSL) in a letter approving the variance.

Denver Water will continue to:

  • replace all lead service lines at no cost to homeowners,
  • provide residents with filters to help reduce their exposure in the short-term, and
  • use an alternative approach to water treatment that still ensures effective corrosion control.

We applaud their emphasis on environmental justice and commitment to ensure that the program continues to prioritize disproportionately impacted neighborhoods – and EPA’s new requirement to track this progress.

This fall, we visited Denver Water’s field operations to see for ourselves how it is successfully replacing more than 4,500 lines per year. We were impressed by what we saw, and sent a letter to EPA’s Regional Administrator expressing our full support for Denver Water’s March 2022 request to continue their program. Read More »

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Toxic Chemicals: Regulatory exemptions prioritize industry wants over safety needs

By / Published: December 2, 2022

A rubber stamp lies on its side to the right of the photo. To the left, you see the stamped image of a skull and crossbones and the words Toxic Substances

By Maria Doa, PhD, Senior Director, Chemicals Policy

What’s the Issue?

EPA grants exemptions from full safety reviews for approximately half the new chemicals submitted by the chemical industry. Once those exemptions are granted, EPA very rarely revises or revokes them—even in the face of new information.

The Toxic Substances Control Act allows EPA to grant an exemption from a full safety review only if it determines that the chemical will not present an unreasonable risk. That’s a high standard—and one that many exemptions do not meet.

Why it Matters:

  • The chemical industry takes maximum advantage of exemptions given the abbreviated safety review and the industry’s ability to keep their use of new chemicals under the radar. For example, the chemicals that get exemptions don’t go on the national inventory of chemicals that are in use.
  • For years, EPA has granted exemptions for chemicals that can have long-term negative impacts on human health and the environment. They include hundreds of exemptions for PFAS, “forever chemicals” known to contaminate our water supplies and farmland. And it’s not just PFAS. EPA has granted exemptions for other types of persistent, bio-accumulative, toxic (PBT) chemicals that can have lasting impacts on people and the environment.
  • These exemptions often contradict TSCA’s requirement that EPA consider the risks from a chemical throughout its lifecycle. That includes the risks for vulnerable groups who may be more susceptible to the chemical or who are more highly exposed, such as frontline communities.
  • EPA does not typically consider the cumulative impacts of multiple exempted chemicals on frontline communities, consumers, or the environment.

Our Take: EPA has an important opportunity to address overuse of TSCA exemptions.

Next Steps:

  • EPA should revisit the exemptions it has already granted. The agency should determine that chemicals truly do not present an unreasonable risk—particularly to vulnerable populations—throughout their lifecycles. EPA should focus first on chemicals that can have long-lasting impacts on health and the environment, like PFAS and other PBTs.
  • Before granting any new exemptions, EPA should consider the combined impacts throughout the lifecycle of these chemicals on all stakeholders, especially frontline communities. EPA Administrator Regan recently said EPA would be embedding environmental justice into the DNA of EPA. This is another opportunity for EPA to do just that.
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Anti-androgenic chemicals as a class of related substances with cumulative toxicological effects

By / Published: November 14, 2022

Maricel Maffini, consultant, and Tom Neltner, Chemicals Policy Director

Scientists and regulators have known for decades that certain chemicals disrupt the actions of male hormones—identified collectively as androgens—in the body. Because of their effects, these chemicals are called anti-androgens or anti-androgenic chemicals.

During gestation, fetal testes begin producing testosterone, the critical hormone required to develop reproductive organs and genitalia. Insufficient production of testosterone leads to malformation of the genital tract that may need corrective surgery in infant boys and may result in reproductive health problems later in life. Ortho-phthalates (aka phthalates), known to interfere with the production of fetal testosterone, are considered anti-androgenic chemicals.

Although phthalates are perhaps the most recognizable group of anti-androgenic chemicals in the diet, there are others, including bisphenol A (BPA), propyl paraben, and certain pesticides used in food crops. Because they cause similar harmful effects, namely adverse health outcomes for male reproductive system, their safety assessment must take into account the cumulative effects of similar substances in the diet as established by law. But what does “cumulative effect” mean? Below, we use a recent study to explain what it means, why it is important, and why FDA is failing.

Biology is not math and the concept of something from nothing Read More »

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Upcoming EDF Webinar: Register Now!

By / Published: August 11, 2022

Cumulative Risk Assessment Framework: A Tool to Spur Improved TSCA Risk Evaluations

Wednesday, September 7, 2022

1:00–2:00 p.m. (ET)

Join the EDF Safer Chemicals team and our academic partners from the University of Maryland and the University of Rochester as we debut a new tool, the Cumulative Risk Assessment Framework, to support implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act. The tool will encourage more robust evaluations of health risks from chemicals and other stressors—improving public health and increasing environmental safety.

This webinar will be of interest to those who conduct or study chemical risk evaluations/assessments, including scientists/researchers, policy makers, and policy implementers.

Registration is required.

 

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