<\/p>\n
Each lead pipe in Albany, like this one on Harris Avenue, is replaced with a copper line. New Castle Paving normally completes three to four replacements every weekday in the city.<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Nearly four years ago,\u00a0Jona Favreau independently tested the drinking water at her Troy home. Findings showed the water contained high levels of lead, and exposure to the element\u00a0left her son with lead poisoning.<\/p>\n
Jim Franco\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Orange County Legislator Gabrielle Hill\u2019s daughter had an elevated blood lead level that required a seven-day medical process to remove the toxic element from her system.<\/p>\n
Kelly Marsh\/For the Times Union<\/p>\n
Lead pipes in Albany are replaced with copper lines, and one job typically takes a few hours to complete. There are approximately 500,000 water lines in New York contaminated with the toxic substance.<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
The city of Albany has private contractors conduct lead pipe replacement. Other municipalities in the Capital Region and Hudson Valley do not, said Richard Straut, a water engineer and the mayor of the village of Voorheesville.<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
For years, Troy Councilwoman\u00a0Jona Favreau has raised awareness about lead contamination in the city\u2019s water supply. She contends one of the biggest challenges to completing pipe replacements is getting the funding out the door.<\/p>\n
Jim Franco\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Orange County Legislator Gabrielle Hill is one of the many community members in\u00a0Newburgh who fears more generations \u2014 especially nonwhite and low-income communities \u2014 will be infected by lead poisoning if municipalities don\u2019t act with a greater sense of urgency.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kelly Marsh\/For the Times Union<\/p>\n
When replacing lead-contaminated water lines, workers sift through layers of dirt, tree roots and sometimes concrete.<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
New Castle Paving normally completes three to four replacements every weekday in the city of Albany.<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
For centuries, lead was used for piping. It’s a flexible material that is easy for workers to roll out, said Kevin Danish, superintendent at New Castle Paving.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Lead pipe removals and replacements are completed \u201ca block at a time\u201d in Albany, said Thomas Berj Nevins, project manager of the city\u2019s Department of Water and Water Supply.<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson is investigating the challenges associated with lead-contaminated water line replacement across New York. He’s found municipalities tend to “compete” against one another to receive funding for replacement.<\/p>\n
Lilli Iannella\/Times Union<\/p>\n
In June 2022, Troy Councilwoman Jona Favreau discovered the drinking water at her city residence contained over three times the legal limit of lead. That was after she learned her 2-year-old son had an elevated level of lead in his blood.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still emotional for me,\u201d Favreau said, reflecting on the moment she learned about her son\u2019s condition and the \u201cgreat impacts\u201d lead poisoning had on his health. \u201cI carry a lot of guilt with that as a mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Once used in everything from pipes to paint, but now widely banned, lead is a dangerous neurotoxin. Exposure to lead\u00a0\u2014 a naturally occurring element in the Earth\u2019s crust that can be toxic to humans and animals\u00a0\u2014 can cause permanent and disabling damage to a person\u2019s brain and nervous system, particularly children, including developmental delays, difficulty learning and behavioral issues,\u00a0according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe real issue is how devastating this can be,\u201d said Tamsin Hollo, a Newburgh resident and member of the city\u2019s\u00a0Clean Water Project. \u201cThere is no second chance.\u201d<\/p>\n The toxic metal can leach into drinking water carried through lead-containing pipes, connectors and fixtures frequently found in the plumbing of buildings built before 1986 and the water supply systems of older neighborhoods, according to the CDC<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Make the Times Union a Preferred Source on Google to see more of our journalism when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Beneath the roughly 150 miles of roadways in Troy, there are about 1,500 known lead service lines carrying water to residences and businesses in need of replacement, a number that fluctuates as the city discovers more of them, according to information revealed at a City Council subcommittee\u00a0meeting on March 19<\/a>.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The Collar City\u2019s lines are just a portion of the approximately 500,000 lead-contaminated water lines<\/a> in New York\u00a0\u2014\u00a0 the sixth-highest estimate among all states\u00a0\u2014 that must be removed by November 2037, according to a directive from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That estimate doesn\u2019t include service lines of unknown material, which may be identified to be made of lead once they are found and inspected.<\/p>\n State leaders and advocates fear that without significant changes, lead poisoning will continue to plague future generations. Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson, an Orange County Democrat, worries municipalities across New York won\u2019t meet the EPA\u2019s deadline, a feat that is complicated by a lengthy, multifaceted process to secure funding to replace lead service lines.<\/p>\n In addition, the state comptroller\u2019s office found the state Department of Health, which administers the allocation of Lead Service Line Replacement Program funding, has not provided the oversight necessary to achieve replacement, notably in the most-impacted communities.<\/p>\n 10-year deadline to replace contaminated pipes<\/p>\n Municipalities across New York are working to remove the lines, some facing the prospect of replacing hundreds of lines and others faced with thousands. So far, thousands<\/a> of lead service lines statewide have been replaced using funding from New York State\u2019s Lead Service Line Replacement Program alone, with some municipalities working at faster rates than others.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The EPA calls the 10-year deadline \u201cfeasible,\u201d<\/a> and while some state leaders agree, others, including Jacobson, aren\u2019t as confident. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI believe municipalities and the state are acting in good faith, but if we keep doing it the way we\u2019re doing it now, I have little faith we\u2019re going to meet the deadline,\u201d said Jacobson, who is leading a legislative investigation into funding for the removal of lead-contaminated water lines.<\/p>\n In late November, Jacobson\u00a0\u2014 chair of the state Assembly\u2019s Oversight, Analysis and Investigation Committee\u00a0\u2014 led a three-hour hearing that examined the funding challenges surrounding the removal of the roughly 500,000 lead-contaminated water lines across New York.\u00a0<\/p>\n He found that municipalities tend to \u201ccompete\u201d against one another to receive funding for lead pipe removal and replacement. On Wednesday, Jacobson\u2019s office said \u201congoing budget negotiations\u201d have delayed the expected release of a final committee report, which is now not expected until this summer.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThe process of getting money should not be a version of the Hunger Games, pitting one municipality against the other in a deadly competition,\u201d Jacobson said. \u201cThese lead-contaminated lines remain in use, threatening public health, until they are replaced.\u201d<\/p>\n At last fall\u2019s hearing, a panel of lawmakers faced a crowd of around 30 people eager to share their concerns in meeting the federal deadline and pose questions to officials from the Department of Health, the state Environmental Facilities Corporation and representatives from municipalities and advocacy groups.<\/p>\n To meet the deadline requires around at least $10,000 to remove each line, steady diligence from municipalities, maintaining up-to-date water line inventories, adequate contractor staffing and cooperation from property owners.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of work, it\u2019s a lot of resources, there are a lot of requirements,\u201d said Richard Straut, a water engineer and the mayor of the village of\u00a0Voorheesville. \u201cThis should have happened a long time ago, the intent of it, to get the lead out of our drinking water.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Jacobson said the requirements are creating roadblocks for municipalities across the state that are trying to complete removal projects, especially for smaller or economically challenged communities that often lack the capacity to apply for grants, prepare engineering reports or pay the up-front costs to qualify for state reimbursements.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need major reforms and a sense of urgency,\u201d Jacobson said in his opening statement at the committee hearing six months ago. \u201cOur job is to help devise a path that gets us to the finish line on time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘A block at a time’<\/p>\n On a slightly cloudy, cool day in late March, a team of workers from New Castle Paving meticulously dug through the front lawns of a handful of houses on Harris Avenue in Albany using an excavator and shovels\u00a0to locate lead pipes running from the water main to the curb. They sifted through layers of dirt, tree roots and sometimes concrete while avoiding house planters.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of different variables because every house is different,\u201d said Kevin Danish, superintendent at New Castle Paving.\u00a0<\/p>\n Once the workers located the lead pipes, they extracted them using a hydraulic winch and cable. As the machine spun, the lead pipes coiled around it.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why they used it back in the day. It was so easy to roll out,\u201d Danish said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lead pipe removals and replacements are completed \u201ca block at a time\u201d in Albany, said Thomas\u00a0Berj Nevins, project manager of the city\u2019s Department of Water and Water Supply. Each lead pipe in Albany is replaced with a copper line, and one job typically takes a few hours to complete. New Castle Paving normally completes three to four replacements every weekday in the city, Nevins said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n When Hollo moved to Newburgh about 10 years ago, she assumed her pipes were contaminated with lead because her house was built in 1890, nearly a century before the use of lead in new pipe installation was prohibited. Replacement of her pipes took about a day, a process she said was prolonged due to the bluestone sidewalks on her property workers had to dig through.<\/p>\n Hollo paid close to $10,000 for the removal and replacement of the pipes, an amount she figured into the purchase price of the house. But not all new homeowners have the financial resources to do that or, in some instances, the knowledge that it needs to be done.<\/p>\n \u201cUnless you\u2019re really aware of this and you know your rights and you know about lead, you\u2019re not going to be thinking about it when you\u2019re buying a home or moving into a place,\u201d said Gabrielle Gonzales, coordinator of advocacy group Lead Free Kids New York. \u201cThe housing market is really rough out here, so you\u2019re just trying to have safety, a good neighborhood; if you have kids, you\u2019re thinking about the school district. A lead pipe and lead paint is probably not top of mind.\u201d<\/p>\n Many municipalities statewide provide free replacement programs and grants that reimburse homeowners for the cost of replacement. As of February, the city of Newburgh has replaced more than 250 lead-contaminated water lines, according to Jacobson<\/a>, the assemblyman. The city utilized about $543,000 in funding from the state\u2019s Lead Service Line Replacement Program to replace 76 of those lines and other funding it secured on its own, including through the American Rescue Plan, to replace the other 174 lines, Jacobson said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n ‘Everything can be solved with enough money’<\/p>\n The city of Albany<\/a> has an estimated 13,000 lead service lines. Of those, it\u2019s replaced more than 2,200 since 2019. When asked about the possibility of meeting the 2037 federal deadline, acting Water Department Commissioner William D. Simcoe said \u201cit depends\u201d on whether the city is able to keep receiving the funding necessary to carry out removal projects.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been replacing more and more each year since we started our program,\u201d Simcoe said. \u201cBut keeping up with that at the pace we\u2019re doing now depends on more and more either financing or grants.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The city is relying on a $12.8 million grant from the state Environmental Facilities Corporation and $2 million in federal grants to inventory lead service lines. That\u2019s just to fund projects this year.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n When applying for grants that support lead pipe removal, Simcoe said the city typically learns\u00a0they\u2019ve been awarded the funding within six to nine months. Favreau contends\u00a0one of the biggest challenges to completing pipe replacements is getting the funding out the door.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just not going fast enough,\u201d Favreau said.<\/p>\n Over the past few years, municipalities in the Capital Region, Hudson Valley and across New York have pushed efforts to remove lead-contaminated pipes, some more aggressively than others.<\/p>\n Albany has private contractors do the work. Other municipalities in the Capital Region and Hudson Valley do not, said\u00a0Straut, who has been mayor of Voorheesville\u00a0since July 2021. Eventually, he thinks the marketplace will adjust to account for demand.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cEverything can be solved with enough money. If there\u2019s enough money and demand, I would think that contractors would get into this marketplace,\u201d Straut said. \u201cRight now as it stands, I would say that there are not enough contractors to do those replacements.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s estimated that for New York to meet the federal deadline for removing contaminated water lines by 2037, the cost will be at least $500 million.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s staggering the amount of money necessary across the state of New York to do this,\u201d said Steve Noble, the mayor of Kingston.<\/p>\n By last fall, New York\u00a0had awarded only about $200 million of state funding along with $340 million of federal funding for inventory and water line removal. Of the federal funding awarded, just $60 million had been received by municipalities.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Working with unknowns<\/p>\n Federal and state grants continue to be awarded to municipalities across New York to support the removal of lead service lines, but they\u2019re only awarded to those who qualify and apply for them. Applying for grants is a monthslong process that does not guarantee an award.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of \u2018ifs\u2019 there that can be challenging to budget for,\u201d Noble said.<\/p>\n For the projects covered by New York\u2019s Lead Service Line Replacement Program funding alone, 3,574 lead service lines were replaced statewide as of last November,\u00a0according to the governor\u2019s office<\/a>. Of the program\u2019s $30 million allocation, $23 million has been spent by 44 municipalities across the state to identify and replace lead service lines.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Still, an audit by the state comptroller\u2019s office\u00a0<\/a>released in January found the state Department of Health \u201cdid not implement sufficient controls to ensure the program\u2019s effectiveness, which limited the ability to replace more lead service lines\u201d between March 2018 and last June.<\/p>\n The audit found the $7 million that was unspent was returned to the New York\u2019s Clean Water Infrastructure Act\u2019s fund and not redispersed to other municipalities that also qualified for the funding. In the Capital Region, $346,112 was left unspent, accounting for 13% of the region\u2019s awarded funding through the program. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNew York is committed to removing health disparities by targeted funding for underserved communities so that we may all be afforded the basic right to safe drinking water,\u201d Erin Clary, a state Health Department spokeswoman, said in a statement provided to the Times Union. \u201cThe Lead Service Line Replacement Program was an opportunity for the department to learn about the challenges communities face when starting a local program to replace lead\u202fservice lines. These lessons learned have informed current programs and were a critical part of providing technical support for lead service line inventories\u202fand administering lead service line replacement funds awarded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.\u201d<\/p>\n The audit also found amounts spent to replace lead service lines were at times \u201csignificantly higher than expected.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIn its plan, DOH estimated a maximum cost of $11,000 to replace a typical lead service line,\u201d the audit reads. \u201cHowever, we identified 382 individual line replacements that cost over $11,000, with the highest single line replacement totaling $66,000. Overall, DOH reimbursed the municipalities about $1 million over the maximum expected cost of $11,000 (per line) for the 382 lead service lines.\u201d<\/p>\n A section of state Public Health Law requires the state Health Department to allocate the program\u2019s funds equitably across all municipalities and prioritize funding to those communities with a high percentage of elevated childhood blood lead levels.<\/p>\n The comptroller\u2019s audit found that \u201cwhile DOH\u2019s funding methodology complied with the law, the methodology at times left municipalities with high percentages of elevated childhood blood lead levels without an award in favor of ones with much lower percentages.\u201d At times, the Health Department chose the municipality with a greater number of houses built before 1939 as a tiebreaker to award funding.<\/p>\n \u201cFor example, one municipality with 3.65% of children with elevated blood lead levels was awarded a grant, even though three other municipalities in the region had higher percentages, including one with a 7.16% rate of elevated childhood blood lead levels\u00a0\u2014 nearly double the percentage,\u201d the audit found.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The law also requires the Health Department to consider whether the community is low-income and the number of lead service lines in need of replacement when distributing awards.<\/p>\n As of August, the\u00a0state comptroller\u2019s office reported 5% of public water systems in New York had not submitted lead inventories, while many\u00a0reported a high number of service lines composed of \u201cunknown\u201d material. Until water systems have complete inventories, the number of reported undiscovered service lines that may contain lead is unknown, according to the EPA.<\/p>\n Despite the comptroller\u2019s critique, Clary said the Health Department\u00a0\u201cviews the lead service line inventory project as a resounding success.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe program achieved 90 percent compliance rate within months of the due date, which indicates high quality guidance was provided by the department,\u201d she said. \u201cThe overwhelming majority of public water systems continue to identify service line materials and update their inventories.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n ‘The clock is ticking’<\/p>\n About two decades ago, the city of Newburgh\u2019s aging water system left Orange County Legislator Gabrielle Hill\u2019s daughter, who was a toddler at the time, with an elevated blood lead level that required a seven-day process called chelation to remove it from her system. It involved placing an IV into her arm used to wash the lead out of her blood, Hill said.<\/p>\n \u201cI was frantic, because they said ‘your baby could die. She could have irreversible brain damage,’\u201d Hill said. \u201cWe are\u00a0bearing the burden of this challenge. We don\u2019t really think about things that are going on that we can\u2019t see and things that are out of our control.\u201d<\/p>\n Hill and Jacobson, the assemblyman, and other elected officials and community members are pushing for changes to make water line replacement more efficient. For instance, Jacobson has proposed \u201ca non-competitive\u201d system<\/a> that would involve state reimbursement for municipalities that provide proof of lead-contaminated line removal and replacement. Municipalities wouldn\u2019t need to wait for funding to come in before starting removal, and the state would cover $10,000 per line, plus interest on any loans.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThe clock is ticking toward the federal deadline,\u201d Jacobson said. \u201cWe need to change how we\u2019re doing things, because all the municipalities are fighting for the money in the beginning. \u2026 They shouldn\u2019t be fighting among themselves, because everybody is under the same mandate.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n