DeKalb residents can weigh in on city application for state funds to help replace lead-lined water pipes

DeKALB – DeKalb residents are invited to a public hearing Monday where they can weigh in on the city’s plan to apply for state funding to help pay for and replace lead-lined water pipes for area homes’ drinking water.

The public hearing will take place during the DeKalb City Council’s regular meeting, set for 6 p.m. Monday in the Yusunas Room of the DeKalb Public Library 309 Oak St.

The city of DeKalb announced plans to apply for Illinois Environmental Protection Agency funding to complete lead service line replacements in the city. As part of the application process, the city must determine community impact results from the replacement plans.

The funding would be the next step in the city’s yearslong efforts to identify and replace water pipes lined with lead that connect to city homes’ drinking supply. Any amount of lead consumption is harmful to a person, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The city’s DeKalb Water Division so far has replaced 80 lead service lines throughout DeKalb, according to city documents, aided by about $500,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds allocated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

City officials have polled DeKalb residents to help better identify who has lead-lined water pipes and where they are. According to results from those polls, city staff have estimated about 100 known lead service lines remain.

That leaves about 278 unknown properties that have not responded to city surveys however, documents show.

The city’s proposed lead service line replacement project would complete about 200 additional lead service lines in its first phase, documents show, with the held of IEPA funds. The city’s lead service line replacement plan was approved in July 2022, documents show.

If approved for more IEPA funds, DeKalb wouldn’t be the only municipality in DeKalb County utilizing state aid to help address lead-lined water pipes.

The city of Sycamore also has applied for and been awarded multiple IEPA grants to date, about $11.16 million in loans, Sycamore city officials have said.

Replacing lead-lined water pipes within the next few years is required under state and federal law.

The Illinois Lead Service Line Replacement and Notification Act – created to minimize potential lead exposure caused by contaminated drinking water and aging pipe infrastructure – requires Illinois water systems to begin removal of lead service lines no later than Jan. 1, 2027.

Similarly, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President Joe Biden’s administration proposed in December new rules which would require most U.S. cities to replace harmful lead pipes within 10 years.

Millions of people consume drinking water from lead pipes and the agency said tighter standards would improve IQ scores in children and reduce high blood pressure and heart disease in adults, The Associated Press reported in December. The Biden Administration’s proposal is the strongest overhaul of lead rules in more than three decades, and will cost billions of dollars. Pulling it off will require overcoming enormous practical and financial obstacles.

The public will have a chance to comment on the federal proposal and the agency expects to publish a final version of the rule in the fall.