City of Hays starts process to identify lead pipes

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The city of Hays has contracted with a company to assist the city in determining where in Hays lead pipes might exist.

The process is part of a national initiative spearheaded by the Biden administration. The Environmental Protection Agency announced in late November that utilities would have to pull and replace the lead pipes within 10 years.

In Kansas, the EPA estimates 54,107 lead pipes remain while the Natural Resources Defense Council believes there are more than 160,000.

For much of the 20th Century, utilities were permitted to install lead service lines, the pipes that carry water from water mains under the street into homes. The EPA banned them in 1986, but utilities have never been required to remove existing pipes, according to a story published recently on the Hays Post from the Kansas Reflector.

Lead is a neurotoxin that in high doses can be fatal. It was in pipes, gasoline and household paint for most of the last century, exposing generations of children to its effects, the Reflector story said.

Even at low levels, exposure to lead can hinder children’s brain development and cause behavioral problems and learning difficulties. Lead-poisoned children can have trouble with language processing, memory, attention and impulsivity. Later in life, it raises the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, the Reflector story said.

How many pipes if any remain in Hays is yet to be determined, said Jeff Crispin, Hays director of water resources.

The city is working with Burns & McDonnell Engineers as well as BlueConduit, which does predictive modeling to identify areas where the city might need to investigate for lead pipe.

The deadline to identify the pipes is October, Crispin said.

The city is delving into records to determine where lead pipes might remain, although Crispin said during recent repairs of water lines and installation of meters, crews have not found lead pipes.

"We just don't know right now because we're still gathering information," Crispin said of how many lead pipes might be in the city.

In looking for sites to further investigate the presence of lead pipes, the city will look for the dates when houses were built. 

"Right now it's about identifying," Crispin said. "In the future, there will be some discussion and research on how to eradicate any lead that would be found within service lines that go into a home."

Typically cities deal with water mains and the lines that go to the meter. Past the meter is typically private and the responsibility of the homeowner, Crispin said.

"This requires the city to know what the material is not only from the city line to the meter but the meter to inside the home," he said.

Crispin said he has no idea how much removing any lead pipes might cost the city. That information will not be available until the survey is complete.

With the help of the EPA and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, he said the city will be communicating with residents more about this issue as the survey progresses.