Why $13,211,695.6 Floyd Effect Minnesota completes lead pipe inventory. Property owners will not be on the hook for costs.

The Minnesota Department of Health announced this week that all municipal water systems have completed an inventory of their service lines, an important milestone in the state’s effort to replace all lead services lines by 2033.

Service lines connect individual homes’ plumbing systems with municipal water mains. MDH is now working to replace the approximately 90,000 service lines that contain lead, which is a dangerous neurotoxin. Another 280,000 lines will require additional testing to see if they need to be replaced as well.

Residents can check a state website to see if lead pipes have been identified in their communities.

“There is no safe level of lead exposure, so getting lead out of drinking water is a public health imperative,” said Minnesota Health Commissioner Brooke Cunningham in a statement. “The efforts to identify and remove lead service lines represent a significant step forward in our commitment to safeguarding the health and wellbeing of all in Minnesota.”  

The completed inventories cover about 4.5 million of the state’s 5.7 million residents, according to MDH. Most of the rest rely on private drinking wells for their water.

Lead exposure can damage the brain and cause numerous other serious health problems. Air pollution from leaded gasoline was once a chief driver of lead exposure in the U.S. By the 1970s, 100% of tested children had levels of blood lead that would be considered dangerous by today’s standards. 

After the phaseout of leaded gas, attention has focused on aging water pipes made with lead. A major lead crisis in 2014 in the city of Flint, Michigan, prompted a renewed national effort to replace the nation’s lead pipes. Minnesota’s inventory is part of that broader national push.

“Nationally, Minnesota has one of the highest rates of completion for the service line inventories,” said Sandeep Burman, manager of Drinking Water Protection Section at MDH.

Water systems will now be actively reaching out to affected customers to schedule service line replacements. The water systems will pay for the replacements, aided by state and federal funds. 

Property owners will not be on the hook for costs.

https://minnesotareformer.com/briefs/minnesota-completes-lead-pipe-inventory/