В Амстердаме заменили всего 21 водопроводную линию из свинца из-за сложных требований к получению гранта

AMSTERDAM — A $291,600 project will replace 21 residential lead service lines in Amsterdam — just 14% of the 150 lines originally expected to be replaced through the $1.5 million federal grant funding the work. “We pretty much are surrendering to the fact that what we have is what we have,” Mayor Michael Cinquanti said. “We want to get them done.” For more than a year, the city searched for income-qualified residents willing to apply and participate in the project after being awarded the Community Development Block Grant through the Lead Service Line Replacement program in December 2024. Officials said property owners were either ineligible or reluctant to apply because of the income qualifications, documentation involved and requirements for owners to stay in their homes or maintain income-eligible tenants for five years after the work is complete. “The application process scared a lot of people away or disqualified a lot of people who really wanted to take advantage of it,” Cinquanti said. The residential lead service line replacement project was sent out to bid with just 21 properties. The Common Council awarded the $291,600 construction contract to Pareene Contracting on Tuesday at a special meeting. The contractor was the lowest bidder. That’s a fraction of the roughly 1,000 residential lead lines that were previously confirmed at homes across Amsterdam, with approximately 1,500 lines suspected citywide based officials’ analysis of property data. The federal grant must be committed by the end of the year, leaving little time to continue searching for homeowners interested in taking advantage of the funding. “One home is an accomplishment. We want zero lead in our water, and this is a way of making [21] homes and the people who live in those homes safer, free from lead. So that's what I'm looking towards,” Cinquanti said. There is no safe level of lead exposure. It can be harmful to human health in all age groups even at low levels. Children are especially vulnerable to the toxic metal, which can cause physical and behavioral effects. People with lead lines can reduce their risk of exposure by running taps for a few minutes each day to flush out standing water in which traces of the toxic metal may have leached. Charcoal water filters rated for the removal of lead may also be used. Replacing lead service lines is the only way to eliminate the risk. The grant requirements created a barrier for struggling residents who would have benefited most from the available funding, Cinquanti said. Property owners would normally be responsible for the cost of replacing their portion of the service line from the shut-off valve into their home. The expense would be fully covered by the grant. “People are struggling in every income strata right now in our city,” Cinquanti said. “Coming up with this money to change the lead lines in your home is not an easy thing to do. And if you really want to change the lead lines in our city, where the problem is, then you should make it as freely available as possible … be more generous with giving it to people who need it.” Work is expected to take place this fall, replacing the 21 residential lead service lines involved in the project. And officials remain committed to continuing to seek funding to replace the remaining lead service lines, but it will take time due to the substantial expense involved. They just hope any available funding is easier to spend in the future. “We'll keep looking for funding and the state's going to continue to provide it. They know the issues that are at hand with the applications and applicability, and being able to qualify,” Cinquanti said. “We're going to keep working at it.” At the same time, the city is working to inhibit lead from leaching out of lead service lines through a $1.32 million corrosion control project completed at the water treatment plant in 2023. It was expected to take three to five years for the full effects to be realized. Officials are cautiously optimistic that testing results this spring detecting lead within allowable levels for the first time in years is evidence that the project is working. Lead was detected at 13 parts per billion in the 90th percentile, which is below the action level of 15 parts per billion set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Officials have repeatedly assured residents that Amsterdam’s water is safe for consumption, noting there is no lead contamination in the water supply. Lead found in water samples leaches out of lead service lines at individual homes and buildings. Drinking water samples for testing are required to be collected from homes with lead service lines. “All that work will continue and hopefully a combination of all those things will work so that our community really is under the action level permanently in all of our neighborhoods and in homes,” Cinquanti said.