Municipal Leaders: Integral to the success of lead pipe replacement in the United States

By Marie Caiola, Water Policy Intern

In the United States, there are still an outstanding 6-10 million lead service lines in approximately 11,000 communities, potentially carrying toxic drinking water to people’s taps. The solution is relatively simple though: remove and replace all lead service lines (LSLs).  In fact, in recent years, there has been a renewed push to replace all LSLs in the United States, as reflected in a statement from President Biden in early 2021: “Every single American has a right to clean drinking water. It’s just plain wrong that in the United States of America today, millions of children still receive their water through lead service pipes. It’s long past time we fix that.” The policy solution of replacing lead service lines has risen to the top of the political agenda - and it’s about time to get the pipes out of the ground. 

However, full lead service line replacement is not possible without proactive and dedicated leadership, especially on the ground. Community-based organizations, advocacy groups, and municipal governments and utilities are integral leaders in the fight for a lead-free water future. 

In early 2021, EPIC launched the Lead-Free Water Challenge (LFWC) and welcomed submissions from small to medium-sized public water systems willing to make a commitment to remove all of their lead pipes. Local leaders from numerous municipal water utilities across the country applied on behalf of their communities. Among the selected participants for the LFWC were three municipalities - Chelsea, Massachusetts; Newburgh, New York; and Hazel Crest, Illinois. 

Throughout their partnership with EPIC, those three municipalities have been represented by the following municipal leaders: Assistant City Engineer for Chelsea, Rebecca Wright; Water Department Superintendent for Newburgh, Wayne Vradenburgh; and Village Manager for Hazel Crest, Dante Sawyer. They have all been integral to establishing effective LSLR programs in their municipalities. Below is a summary of their progress and accomplishments, based on interviews conducted in July 2022.

Chelsea, Massachusetts

The City of Chelsea, Massachusetts is a suburb of Boston that has a population of roughly 39,690. With a large number of undocumented residents, Rebecca Wright estimates the actual population may be closer to 60,000. Chelsea’s LSLR Program, spearheaded by Rebecca and her colleagues, secured funds from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) Lead Loan Program (LLP) supplemented by the city’s capital improvement funds. To date, the Chelsea has replaced 170 LSLs, with an estimated 100 LSLs remaining. Under Rebecca’s leadership, the City of Chelsea began to compile a comprehensive lead inventory by digitizing their records from tie cards and documenting where LSLs are located throughout the city, which is imperative to replacing the remaining LSLs. The success of the program would not be possible without Rebecca’s dedication to community outreach and openness to constructive feedback. Rebecca explains that leading Chelsea’s LSLR Program, “... has allowed [the government] to take the burden off citizens, which has been extremely rewarding.” Rebecca works tirelessly to restore her community’s trust in their water by assigning technicians throughout the city, so that residents have face-to-face contact with the city’s water department.

Newburgh, New York

The City of Newburgh, New York on the banks of the Hudson River has a diverse population of roughly 28,177 residents. Newburgh is an older city with older housing stock, and therefore has an estimated high number of lead service lines. Wayne Vradenburgh guided Newburgh through a widely-publicized PFAS contamination crisis starting in 2016 and continues to be a leader in the city’s journey to having lead-free drinking water. The city has an unknown number of LSLs, and is undergoing a meter replacement project led by Wayne that is simultaneously helping the water department identify service line materials. To date, 100 LSLs have been replaced out of 5,500 service connections at an average cost of $10,000 per line. He also took the initiative to convince Newburgh to use American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to jumpstart his LSLR program. To improve and build his department, Wayne is advocating for the recruitment of additional water deputies, so that when he retires, the municipality’s LSLR program will continue to grow and serve the Newburgh community with lead-free water for generations to come. 

Hazel Crest, Illinois

The Village of Hazel Crest is an outlying suburb of Chicago with a population of 13,565 residents. Beginning in early 2020, the village staff led by Dante Sawyer fostered a partnership with the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) to develop a preliminary lead inventory. With guidance from EPIC’s partner, Blue Conduit, Hazel Crest has discovered that 347 service lines are "assumed lead" and 758 service lines are "likely lead."  The estimated cost of replacing the  existing LSLs in Hazel Crest is approximately $8.8-11 million. Throughout the LSLR process, Dante has prioritized collaboration and has taken time to learn from other municipalities’ best practices, and ultimately to learn what made their LSLR programs successful. Due to his team’s efforts, the Village of Hazel Crest was placed on the Illinois SRF Project Priority List and was awarded $4 million in principal forgiveness loans to kickstart their LSLR Program. Dante admits that “...this has been one of the most fulfilling opportunities. Working in local government has allowed [him] to address quality of life issues directly.”

Chelsea, Newburgh, and Hazel Crest all began their LSLR programs in different contexts, but due to proactive and consistent leadership have all made important strides to have  “lead-free” drinking water. Leaders in the water sector are vital for ensuring their community has access to safe, clean drinking water. By setting their municipalities’ lead service line replacement programs in motion, these municipal leaders are public health champions for their communities. Each of these leaders have worked tirelessly to improve their municipality’s drinking water. In the words of Newburgh’s Wayne Vradenburgh, “...although most of my progress has been underground, I know Newburgh is a better city than when I started.” EPIC is proud to partner with these municipal officials, and cannot wait for a time when each of these municipalities delivers “lead-free” drinking water to their citizens’ taps because of their guidance and leadership.