In a stark visual reminder of the threat to public health from dangerous lead water pipes, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) today released a map based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data revealing the specific communities and water systems most impacted by the estimated 9.2 million lead water pipes delivering drinking water to homes. There is no safe level of lead exposure.

The data confirm that lead pipes are found in all 50 states, with Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Florida having the most. Chicago and Cleveland are the cities with the most reported lead pipes, but the problem is also widespread across the nation with cities like Cocoa, Florida, and Atlanta, Georgia also having major problems. Millions more people are drinking water from pipes that could be lead because their local utilities have labeled their composition as “unknown.”

“Each lead pipe on this map connects an entire family to an urgent drinking water threat in their home,” said Valerie Baron, National Policy Director and Senior Attorney at NRDC’s Safe Water Initiative. “Children today are drinking water that traveled through the same dangerous pipe that was installed before their parents were even born. It is long past time for utilities and governments to take responsibilities for these hazards, and the first step is knowing where they are.”

This new data underscores the importance of EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, which the agency promised will be finalized by October 16, one month from today. It is expected to represent the most significant step in a generation towards tackling the nationwide problem of lead in drinking water. For the first time, it will become federal policy to replace 100 percent of lead water pipes within 10 years, among other improvements.

“No one I’ve ever met wants to drink water from a lead straw, so the EPA’s final lead rule must finally fix the historic wrong of transporting drinking water through toxic lead pipes,” said Erik D. Olson, senior strategic director for health at NRDC. “Community leaders from Flint, Michigan to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Newark, New Jersey, and Chicago, Illinois have been fighting to clean up our tap water, and the government is right to recognize the urgent need to do more to protect the right to safe drinking water.”

$15B in federal funding is available to states but allocations are determined by a lead pipe inventory. Despite this financial incentive, EPA’s data exposes many water systems have failed to identify whether they have lead pipes, and some have characterized the material makeup of many or all of their water pipes as made of “unknown material.” But a comprehensive national requirement for water systems to complete an inventory identifying the location of their lead pipes becomes effective one month from today, October 16. The data from those inventories will not be immediately publicly available.

NRDC’s map is based upon EPA’s survey data recently publicly released after NRDC submitted a Freedom of Information Act request. Some highlights about the geographic location where pipes are located include:

• Lead pipes occur in all 50 states, but some states have a disproportionate problem. These include Illinois, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Florida, which are especially heavy hit. Other states, including North Carolina, Michigan, Georgia, Indiana, and Louisiana, also are among the states with the most reported lead pipes.
• A handful of cities report massive numbers of pipes known to have lead, including of course Chicago (387k), as well as Cleveland (235k), New York City (112k), Detroit MI (80k), Milwaukee WI (74k), Denver CO (64k), St. Louis, MO (63k). Indianapolis IN (55k), Minneapolis, MN (49k), Buffalo, NY (40k), Cocoa FL (37k), Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission in MD (36k), Pittsburgh PA (29k), Philadelphia PA (25k), and Atlanta (31k). Some of these cities (like NYC) have large numbers of service lines of unknown material (“unknowns”) that may be lead, and other cities (like Chicago) have found additional lead pipes since these data were reported to EPA, so these are likely underestimates for many cities. The number of unknowns is listed for each city, where reported.
• Some cities not previously widely recognized as having a lead problem have surprisingly high numbers of lead pipes. These include Cocoa, Florida (37k), Northern Kentucky Water District (28k), Conway, AR (27k), Pasco County Utilities – Pasco County Regional Water System FL (24k) (listed as “PCUD-Pasco County Regional PWS”). There are many other surprises including Fort Lauderdale, FL (23k), Memphis, TN (20k), and Winston-Salem, NC (13k).
• The top 30 cities with the most reported service lines containing lead are listed here. However, these numbers will change as more lead lines are discovered in these and many other cities.

Some highlights about water pipe inventories reported by Public Water Systems (water utilities) include:

• 20 percent of water utilities in the United States are thought to have some lead pipe in their service lines. These utilities serve more than 82 million people.
• Many water utilities have failed to identify their lead pipes—43 percent of water utilities serving 123 million people report that many or all their water lines are made from an “unknown” material.
• 23 percent of water utilities serving 30 million people in Texas, Louisiana, and California secured the ignominious distinction of having the highest percentages of non-reporting systems.

Additional Resources:

• Finding Lead Water Pipes: New NRDC Map Shows the Hot Spots in Every State
• Let’s Finish the Job and Get Lead Out of Our Drinking Water
• Report: Getting the Lead Out Costs Less Than You May Think
• Causes and Effects of Lead in Water
• How to Find Out if Your Home Has Lead Service Lines
• What’s Great and What Needs Fixing in the EPA’s Proposed Lead Rule

About NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council)
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).

Source: NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council)

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