The Erie County Water Authority is receiving an immediate payment of $1.6 in federal funding which will help it move forward with a large-scale and expensive replacement of lead and galvanized service lines, as required by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The goal is to ensure cleaner, safer drinking water for more residents.
“Lead poisoning has serious, lasting consequences,” said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who visited the ECWA service center in Cheektowaga to announce the funding. “In children, it can cause permanent neurological damage, developmental delays and learning and hearing problems. Even low levels of lead exposure can affect a child's ability to pay attention, to succeed at school. And in adults, lead exposure can be linked to kidney, heart, and reproductive issues.”
Under the EPA’s initiative, water utility agencies must remove all lead service lines and galvanized lines in need of replacement by the year 2038. But the Erie County Water Authority wants their leads lines out by 2028.
“We're trying very hard to get all the lead out by 2028 to avoid some serious upfront costs on capital and process changes that we would have to do, plus risk of exposure to penalties under the new threshold levels for lead that go into effect in 2028,” said Jerome Schad, who chairs the Authority’s Board of Commissioners.
Joining Gillibrand to announce Senate funding were a representative from the office of Senator Charles Schumer, Congressman Tim Kennedy, and Cheektowaga Town Supervisor Brian Nowak.
“The science is clear, no amount of lead is safe for anyone, and while that's a known truth for many homeowners facing rising prices, the cost of remediating their service line is simply insurmountable,” Kennedy said.
Schad indicated there are currently about 6,000 lines to replace. The project is estimated to cost about $25 million per year. ECWA has raised rates to help cover costs.
“This immediate money will go directly to helping at least 150 to 200 homes of people who don't have to worry about finding the money to get the lead on their service line out so that they're protected,” he said.
Nowak suggested the City of Buffalo and its first-ring suburbs, including his Town of Cheektowaga, has some of the oldest housing stock in the nation, with not only outdated water lines but also power grids, sewer systems and other public work infrastructures.
“It can't be done by the rate payers alone. They're facing significant increases,” Nowak said. “Things like this, getting federal money to come into Western New York to help support those efforts, keeps the water authority rates more affordable.”
Gillibrand stated the funding would allow ECWA to prioritize homes with vulnerable populations.
“This crisis does not affect every neighborhood equally. Because of the legacy of racism and redlining, communities of color often face older housing and higher lead exposure. As a result, black children living below the poverty line are twice as likely to have elevated levels of lead in than their white peers,” she said.
