All Ohioans deserve to live in a healthy environment. Yet many older homes still contain lead-based paint and lead water lines. Exposure to lead, even at low levels, can cause serious health effects in all age groups, but especially for children. Advocates across Ohio are calling on our leaders and lawmakers to #GetTheLeadOut of our homes and our drinking water systems.
Ohio’s Lead Legacy
In Ohio, we’ve been dealing with lead pipes contaminating our tap water for decades. Replacing lead service lines protects children from the harmful effects of lead. Even though the use of lead pipes was banned by Congress in 1986, Ohio currently ranks third in the nation for the most lead pipes serving families, with more than 745,000 still in use.
Getting your water delivered to your home through a lead service line is like drinking your water through a lead straw. According to the U.S. EPA drinking water can make up 20% or more of a person’s exposure to lead. It provides an opportunity for lead to reach from the pipes and into the water, which can cause serious health problems. For kids, and especially kids under age six, elevated levels of lead in their blood can cause impaired brain development, among other symptoms. Adults are more likely to experience increased risks of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and kidney and nervous system problems when exposed to lead.
Because of historical disparities in water infrastructure investment and ongoing structural racism and classism, Ohio’s lead water lines are disproportionately found in Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities, as well as low-income communities. The good news is that investments to fully replace these lead service lines are on the way.
Funding for Lead Service Line Replacement
In November 2021, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) providing $15 billion for lead service line replacement across the nation over the next five years, with an estimated $735 million coming to Ohio for lead line replacement through 2026. Following this news, cities like Toledo and Cincinnati have announced plans to speed up their lead service line replacement programs. For future funding allocations, we’re advocating alongside our partners at the Alliance for the Great Lakes for lead service line replacement dollars to meet the needs each state has in replacing their lead service lines.
At the state level, the DeWine Administration has invested $4.5 million in lead line mapping and replacement through the H2Ohio program.
Our Advocacy Helps Create Change
Now is the time for Ohio to take bold action to set our state on a path to removing all remaining lead service lines and protecting families from the health impacts of this outdated infrastructure. Supporters like you are critical in the fight for clean and safe drinking water. Thank you for calling on our lawmakers to make these critical investments to permanently safeguard our drinking water from lead contamination.
