Some Chicagoans Wary of Lead Pipe Replacement

In the majority-Latino Little Village, concerns about the project are multi-dimensional. Some are worried about the disruption all the digging will cause to lawns and gardens. Others fear, based on onerous Trump-era immigration policies, that they will later be punished for accepting government assistance. Some residents fears’ even reach all the way back to the 1932 Tuskegee Experiments, in which the US government used Black Americans as test subjects.

Just as with public resistance to Covid-19 vaccines, the response to Chicago’s lead pipe replacement project is a story playing out in neighborhoods across the country. Government public interest initiatives, even with the best of intentions and resources, are being curtailed by mistrust.

Where Are Lead Service Lines? Look for Older Homes and Poverty

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can do more to help water utilities and the public identify neighborhoods that are more likely to have lead drinking water pipes, according to a Government Accountability Office report.

The GAO, a watchdog agency that works for Congress, concluded that the EPA has not met the requirements of a 2016 law intended to improve the agency’s public communication of lead pipe risks.

Older homes and poverty are indicators that lead service lines may be present, the report found. By combining demographic and housing data from the Census Bureau with geospatial data on the location of lead service lines the GAO found some striking correlations that identified neighborhoods at risk.

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