Montana will receive EPA funds to replace lead pipes over the next decade

Keila Spzaller
| The Montanan Diary

Montana will receive nearly $25 million to replace lead pipes in water systems within 10 years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced.

Last week’s announcement said a new rule from the Biden-Harris administration would require more rigorous testing of drinking water and a lower threshold for communities to act on lead in drinking water.

Lead is a neurotoxin and there is no safe level of exposure, especially for children, the EPA said.

A leader in the medical community praised the funds for Montana, and a spokesperson for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality said an assessment of the amount of lead pipes in the state is underway.

“Currently, the amount of lead pipes that exist in Montana is unknown,” Madison McGeffers of the DEQ said in an email.

However, McGeffers said DEQ is collecting lead service line inventories with a deadline of Oct. 16: “We will have a better understanding of the prevalence of lead pipes after the inventories are reviewed.”

DEQ said lead service lines have not been required to be replaced in the past, although some water systems have voluntarily removed lead lines.

If a school has a lead service line, the water system supplying the school would be eligible for EPA funding to remove the line from the school, according to the DEQ. However, schools can also access funds through Montana’s House Bill 5, which dedicated money to removing lead in schools by 2023.

In a phone interview, Dr. Patricia Notario of Billings said young children in the oral developmental stages are a major concern. They explore the environment by putting things in their mouths.

As such, they are at risk of ingesting chipped paint or lead from fishing equipment or ammunition, she said, and if parents or neighbors fish or hunt, they could pass the lead from their hands to a child’s hand – which will go to your mouth.

“As a developing child, you are susceptible to the neurological damage that can occur from lead,” Notario said.

Brain development is most critical at ages 0 to 3, but the brain continues to develop well beyond that period, said Notario, vice president of the Montana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“It can still have effects even in older children,” Notario said.

Exposure noted by DEQ can cause damage to the brain, red blood cells and kidneys, and can cause reduced IQ, hearing impairment, reduced attention span and poor classroom performance.

The EPA said exposure can irreversibly damage a child’s brain, but said it is also harmful to adults: “Lead can cause increased blood pressure, heart disease, decreased kidney function and cancer.”

Notario said pediatricians are advised to screen children for lead exposure until ages 1 and 2, when they are more likely to put things in their mouths, and pregnant women are advised to get screened if they are suspected of exposure. .

She praised the money for Montana and said the dollars will help on at least a few fronts: “That’s where this money is most critical: to help not just with awareness and testing, but to make long-term changes so that exposure isn’t more exists.”

Montana has already worked to address lead in schools.

In the 2023 legislative session, lawmakers dedicated $3.7 million to combat lead in schools through a reimbursement program included in House Bill 5.

“We have received refund requests for about $100,000 to date,” McGeffers said in an email. “Several schools are planning to submit additional requests.”

A February 2023 report from the American Environmental Research and Policy Center found that most states fall short when it comes to oversight of lead in schools.

It gave Montana a grade of C after an analysis determined that 75 percent of school water tests had lead.

In an email, DEQ said the statistic remains current and means that 75% of schools had at least one element above Montana’s “action level” for lead in schools, which is 5 micrograms per liter or parts per billion.

In the EPA’s press release about the federal funds, the agency said low-income communities and communities of color have disproportionate exposure to lead. It stated that 49% of the money must be provided to disadvantaged communities as a grant or principal forgiveness that does not need to be repaid.

“EPA continues to make water investments that eliminate health risks in all communities, including those most impacted by aging infrastructure,” EPA Regional Administrator KC Becker said in a statement. “This historic funding will ensure our water suppliers have what they need to identify and replace lead pipes so everyone in Montana can have access to safe drinking water.”

This story was first published by The Daily Montanan, a nonprofit news organization and part of the States Newsroom network covering statewide issues. Read more at www.dailymontanan.com.