In-ground lead pipe is still legal

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Prandy Tavarez and his wife were expecting a baby when they bought a 4BR century-old house. They got to work ripping off wallpaper and replacing windows coated in paint that contained lead, a potent neurotoxin that can damage brain development in children.

It wasn’t the only lead. The pipe carrying water to the home was also lead.

Providence’s tap water had had dangerous lead levels for years. So, it wasn’t surprising in 2008 when a road crew dug up the street to take out the pipe, but left part of it in the ground.

Around the country, utilities have been leaving lead pipe in the ground even when it is easiest to remove during water main work. 

Worse, they have been removing sections, disturbing the pipe and leaving the rest, which can spike lead levels, an investigation by The Associated Press found. 

Leaving lead pipe behind should have stopped years ago, said Yanna Lambrinidou, a medical anthropologist at Virginia Tech and co-founder of the Campaign for Lead Free Water. 

The Environmental Protection Agency says no amount of lead is safe for kids.

Utilities, she said, have tried to reduce costs and dodge responsibility.

Many cities say they can leave the pipes and use chemical treatment instead. But it isn’t foolproof. The Biden Administration wants all 9.2 million lead pipes in the U.S. replaced.

Even some cities that are committed say they have too few resources and local rules can get in the way. 

Buffalo, New York; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Detroit showed it didn’t have to be this way. Detroit officials now say residents allow contractors to dig on their property to take out lead pipes - or face the water being shut off. 

But decades after the dangers of lead became clear, other cities have made different decisions - Chicago and other places. It continues today in Oklahoma City, Allentown, Pa., Nashville and Memphis, Tenn., and St. Louis. 

Recently, more money and attention to the danger of lead pipes has prompted some to stop the practice. Still, it remains legal. (The AP 07/11/23) Decades after the dangers of lead became clear, some cities are leaving lead pipe in the ground | AP News