For decades in our state, lead service lines have brought dangerous, lead-contaminated drinking water into our homes, schools, daycares, and workplaces. In my home city of Pittsburgh, unsafe drinking water from lead service lines is a constant threat in our neighborhoods.
Safe water is vital for the health and well-being of our children and families. It is critical that our national leaders take immediate action to get the lead out of our drinking water.
Following the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, increased attention was turned to industrial cities like ours, where aging infrastructure is a growing concern. Pittsburgh was quickly thrown into its own crisis, when the level of lead in our drinking water was found to be 22 parts per million in 2016, significantly over the federal and state lead action level of 15 parts per million.
From 2016, when lead was first detected, to 2020, Pittsburgh’s lead in water levels exceeded the federal action limit during five testing periods. While the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority agreed to remove their lead pipes by 2026, the health risks from lead in tap water will remain in many homes across the region for some years.
Lead exposure is dangerous and can impact everything from our bones, liver, and kidneys to our brain function. Even low levels can lower our kids’ IQ and have lifelong impacts on their learning by causing problems with attention and behavior.
High levels of lead exposure can put people of all ages at risk of potentially life-threatening lead poisoning. This massive health burden falls especially heavily on communities and children of color. Three-quarters of Black adults reporting that they worry “a great deal” about polluted drinking water.
What families are doing
Imagine the heavy emotional toll on parents and families who learn that their children have been unknowingly drinking lead-contaminated water and putting their futures at risk. When folks finally learn about this issue — many are still unaware — they will do everything in their power to keep their families safe. It’s no wonder that our families are so concerned about the toll this serious public health crisis and environmental justice issue is taking on our daily lives.
Whether they rely on bottled water or use at-home filters, families are doing everything they can to keep themselves and their children safe from the threats of lead exposure. My organization, Women for a Healthy Environment (WHE), along with the Community Justice Project and Get the Lead Out, Pittsburgh campaign, work with families that are currently being impacted by lead contamination to help them access safe drinking water.
But beyond what’s being done in Pittsburgh, there’s hope for a future without lead in our drinking water.
Our state is championing the effort to get the lead out of our drinking water as part of an initiative launched in partnership with the EPA earlier this year. Under the Lead Service Line Replacement Accelerators Initiative, our state is fast-tracking its effort to be free of the lead service lines that deliver dangerously contaminated drinking water into our homes and schools.
The ongoing commitment of this program to protecting Pennsylvanians underscores the need for the Biden administration and EPA Administrator Michael Regan to pass strong, just rules to ensure that communities across the country are protected from the dangers of lead exposure.
Lead service lines are replaceable — our children are not. By making a commitment to replace all lead service lines in the nation by 2030, the Biden administration and the EPA can take meaningful action to ensure that parents and families can give their children the safe, lead-free water they need to build healthy lives.
Chavaysha Chaney is the manager of advocacy and health policy at Women for a Healthy Environment in Pittsburgh. WHE hosts an annual Life Without Lead Summit.
First Published: October 26, 2023, 10:00 a.m.