PENNSYLVANIA — Lead poisoning can cause significant, irreversible damage to children and families who live with it. For too long, families across Pennsylvania have been dealing with the issue of lead poisoning. (cite report on lead poisoning in PA). Included in the historic bipartisan infrastructure deal reached with President Biden last week is a plan to eliminate the country’s remaining lead pipes and service lines, which for decades have posed a risk for contaminated water in millions of homes and schools.
President Joe Biden knows the vital importance of clean drinking water for all Americans. That’s why the bipartisan infrastructure deal would eliminate lead from the nation’s drinking water systems, particularly in low-income and communities of color that disproportionately suffer exposure to the potent neurotoxin.
Though Flint, Michigan, put the issue on the map with its water crisis in 2014, dozens more communities have elevated lead rates, many even higher than Flint’s, including right here in Pennsylvania. The problem disproportionately affects communities of color.
The poisoned places on the map stretch from Warren, Pennsylvania, a town on the Allegheny River where 36 percent of children tested had high lead levels, to Philadelphia, where lead poisoning has spanned generations, the rate of elevated tests over the last decade was 40 to 50 percent.
Over the next 20 years, Pennsylvania’s drinking water infrastructure will require $16.8 billion in additional funding. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bills includes a $15 billion investment to ensure clean, safe drinking water is a right in all communities.
“Thanks to President Biden, the bipartisan infrastructure deal will eliminate all lead drinking water pipes and service lines in the United States with this unprecedented funding,” said Rosie Lapowsky, PA Dems Spokesperson. “This bill will not only fix the severe issue we have in Pennsylvania with lead, but it will also put plumbers and pipefitters to work replacing all of the nation’s lead water pipes so every child and every American can turn on the faucet at home or school and drink clean water. This includes low-income communities and communities of color that have been disproportionately affected by dangerous lead pipes.”
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