A new Environmental Protection Agency assessment estimates that 9.2 million lead pipes provide water to houses across the U.S., with more in Florida than any other state. The results of this survey will determine how billions of dollars will be spent to locate and replace these pipes.
In the poll that was made public on Tuesday, the agency first inquired about lead pipes and provided the most accurate estimate yet of how many are underground. One expert was surprised by the estimated 1.16 million pipes in Florida. Large-scale problems with lead pipes are more frequently connected with industrial states like Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
With 1.04 million lead pipes, Illinois came in second in the study conducted on Tuesday, trailed by Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and New York.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s billions of dollars will be directed to water infrastructure improvements like locating and removing lead pipes in states that need them the most using the agency’s drinking water infrastructure assessment. Historically, a state’s share of lead pipe funding was determined by its overall demand for infrastructure, without taking into account the number of lead pipes the state already had.
The EPA states that no quantity of lead is acceptable for children’s bodies since it can damage their brains. All of the nation’s lead water pipes will be removed, according to the Biden administration’s plan. The $15 billion from the infrastructure law for lead pipe work will go a long way toward solving the issue, but it won’t be sufficient.
“Every community deserves access to safe, clean drinking water,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan. “Thanks to President Biden’s infrastructure investments, we have an unprecedented opportunity to revitalize America’s drinking water systems, support the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of removing 100% of lead pipes across our country, and protect communities from PFAS pollution.”
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently proposed drinking water limits for PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as “forever chemicals,” in a push that the agency claimed will save lives and reduce illness but necessitate the installation of expensive treatment systems by many water providers.
The US will need to invest $625 billion in drinking water infrastructure over the next 20 years, according to the EPA’s assessment of almost 3,500 water providers, a figure that has climbed significantly in recent years. The most pressing need is for new water pipes to replace those that are too old, damaged, or in some cases made of lead.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will contribute $6 billion of the total $6.5 billion available to states, U.S. territories, and tribes for the improvement of drinking water infrastructure, according to another announcement made by the EPA on Tuesday.
The EPA is “trying to do the right thing,” according to Erik Olson, a health and food expert with the environmental organization Natural Resources Defense Council, by utilizing its study to provide funds for lead pipes to the states that require it the most. Yet, he referred to Florida’s figure as “a significant surprise.” Olson claimed that in 2021, the state informed his group that it did not keep track of lead service lines. According to the NRDC, the state had roughly 200,000 people.
As lead pipes were most frequently placed in the decades before Florida’s high population growth, Olson said the Florida statistic is perplexing.
“We look forward to hearing an explanation,” Olson said.
The EPA claimed that it extrapolated from the responses of the water providers to produce the state-level figures. The EPA claimed that places like Florida had a large number of water lines that were either built of an unknown material or lead and that the locations of many lead pipes are still unknown.
A request for comment was not promptly answered by a representative of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
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Chris began his writing as a hobby while attending Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida. Today he and his wife live in the Orlando area with their three children and dog.
