The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority announced the approval Monday of $100 million in interest-free loans to fully replace lead service lines within private residences that could contaminate drinking water, according to a Monday press release.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said in the release that the program will allow cleaner, safer drinking water for Massachusetts.
“I am proud that Massachusetts is taking proactive measures to ensure that residents have continued access to clean drinking water,” Baker said in the release. “The loans being provided by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority will allow communities to take the steps necessary to modernize their drinking water infrastructure, and keep Massachusetts’ families safe and healthy.”
Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said in the release that although most Boston residents have clean drinking water, particular residents could be at risk due to the age of their homes.
“This program will help ensure that all residents of MWRA communities will continue to have safe drinking water, regardless of their ZIP code or the age of their home,” Walsh said in the release.
Fred Laskey, executive director of the MWRA, said the agency will be the one to distribute the funds.
“The situation in Flint, Michigan has brought national attention — including that of the [United States] Environmental Protection Agency — to the subject, and we thought it was time to accelerate our ongoing efforts,” Laskey said. “This marks a major upgrade to our efforts to eliminate lead services in the greater Boston area.”
Laskey said that tests run by the MWRA say Boston’s water supplies are clean, but lead contamination can occur in old homes that were not required to adhere to laws against lead at the time of construction. Laskey said the MWRA estimates that of these homes, “28,000 are in the Greater Boston Area, somewhere over 3,000 are in the City of Boston.”
“The water that comes out of the reservoirs in Central Mass. has no lead in it,” Laskey said. “The only place that it picks up lead from is the connection in the street to the home, and some other things like faucets.”
Laskey said replacing the lead pipes would cost between $3,000 and $5,000 for each home.
“We’ve been waging a battle against lead for 15 years or more,” Laskey said. “Back then, as a system, we failed. Right now, we are below what’s called ‘the action level,’ [which is] 15 parts per billion.”
Laskey said lead pipes can contaminate water that remains dormant for an extended period of time. Laskey added that city officials urge residents to run the water and flush the toilet to remove stagnant water.
Austin Blackmon, chief of Environment, Energy and Open Space for the City of Boston, said the program was improved to promote safety for those serviced by the MWRA.
“The motivation is just to make sure we’re doing everything that we possibly can to protect the residents in the MWRA communities,” Blackmon said. “We’ve seen other communities struggle with this. We hope that other water systems throughout the country follow our lead.”
Blackmon said officials have always monitored the water for lead and will continue to do so.
“To be very clear, the water is always monitored for lead at random throughout our communities, and we always pay very close attention to those readings,” Blackmon said. “I’m not aware of any reports of exposures to lead.”
Several Boston residents said they were in favor of the program.
Tucker Dammin, 33, of Brighton, said he hopes the program will involve identifying homes in need of improved piping.
“I hope some of it’s for surveying and figuring if there are areas that need it more than others so that the money goes directly to those areas,” he said. “I hope it isn’t up to just the agency of the individual home owners to advocate for themselves. I hope they put at least some middle bureaucracy to connect with people who need it most.”
Jacob Small, 28, of Brighton, said the program will benefit public health as well as the economy.
“The program sounds like a really good idea because it will help public health as well as aid the local economy by creating construction jobs,” he said.
Tony Narcisi, 24, of Allston, questioned the urgency of removing lead from water mains but believes it could have an impact on the local economy.
“I mean, nobody wants lead in water, but I don’t know how big of a deal it is,” he said. “It’s excellent. My dad’s a contractor, and I’m sure people like him will appreciate the work.”
