Residents oppose paying for lead pipe removal

A Saturday forum focused on lead and Milwaukee’s water supply attracted several dozen people, including property owners opposed to paying for lead pipe removal costs.

Milwaukee faces an enormous and costly task of replacing 70,000 lead water pipes throughout the city.

The toxic metal dissolved in drinking water is unsafe at any levels, especially for children.

Fully replacing all of the old lead pipes that connect municipal water mains to residences will cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

The city owns the pipe – known as a lateral — that runs from the water main to the property line. It says the property owner is responsible for the section between the property line and the residence.

Under a proposal before the Common Council, lead lateral line replacement would be mandatory in emergency situations – such as when there’s a leaking pipe – or when a planned infrastructure project affects a property.

In those cases, Milwaukee Water Works would pay 100% of the cost for the public utility side of the system. Under a cost-share plan, the property owner would pay up to $1,600 for the remainder of the pipe replacement – with payments made over a 10-year period.

Yet some oppose having to pay for any of the lead pipe removal costs.

More than a century ago, city officials required that the pipes running from the water main to a building would be made from lead, Robert Miranda, with the Freshwater for Life Action Committee, said at Saturday’s forum held at North Division High School.

“The whole thing about lead lateral pipes was mandated by the city. So what proof does the city have that the lead pipes are owned by the property owner, and what gives the city the right to charge the property owner for pipes they really didn’t know they had? That is the fundamental issue,” Miranda said.

Milwaukee treats Lake Michigan water to control corrosion of lead pipes and prevent contamination of drinking water. One woman who spoke at the forum said her water tested lead-free, but that her address was on a city list of addresses that probably had lead pipes.

There’s still a risk of the water being contaminated, according to city officials.

“Even if it doesn’t happen all of the time, you need to know,” Water Works Superintendent Carrie Lewis said.

City officials say residents in older homes should run the tap water regularly, to flush the lead out, and that they should get a lead-removal filter that’s available for free to low-income families with young children.