Lead Service Line Replacement Program

Transcription

1 Lead Service Line Replacement Program In cooperation with the Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL), Mayor Karen Weaver and the City of Flint are launching the Fast Start Lead Service Line Replacement Program. The BWL has more than a decade of experience in safely and efficiently removing lead service lines (LSL) in Lansing and will provide the technical assistance needed to launch the Fast Start program. The BWL has perfected a technique for removing LSLs that is much faster and more cost effective than traditional methods. Phase One: Target High Risk Households In Phase One of the Fast Start program, high risk households in Flint will be given the first priority for LSL removal and replacement. High risk households include those with children under age 6, children with elevated blood lead levels, pregnant women, senior citizens, residential day care facilities, people with compromised immune systems, and households where water tests indicate high levels of lead at the tap. Phase Two: Full Scale Operations In Phase Two of the program, the removal and replacement of LSLs in the Flint water distribution system will ramp up to a full scale operation that is projected to require 32 work crews and a robust administration and logistics support team to meet the one year goal. Cooperation with State and Federal Agencies Mayor Weaver and the City of Flint request the full cooperation of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) in supporting Fast Start. Data that correlates high risk households with the location of known LSLs will be required to make the program a success. Fast Start Program Funding Mayor Weaver and the City of Flint request full funding for Fast Start from the Governor, Michigan Legislature and United States Congress. The preliminary estimate for fully funding the program is $55 million, based on the city s goal of removing 15,000 LSLs in one year. 1

2 Preliminary Cost Estimates*** The preliminary cost estimate to fully fund the Fast Start program is $55 million, which includes 32 trained and equipped work crews, a robust administration and logistics support unit, and a one year target for project completion. Preliminary cost estimates are based on BWL s experience in replacing lead service lines in Lansing. The actual cost of removing the lines in Flint may vary depending on the architecture and condition of the water distribution system and other factors. The estimated costs are broken down as follows: ADMINISTRATION AND LOGISTICS Personnel 900,000 Operations 600,000 ADMIN SUBTOTAL 1,500,000 FIELD STAFF AND EQUIPMENT Labor 36,000,000 Material 9,750,000 Operations 3,750,000 FIELD SUBTOTAL 49,500,000 Project Contingency (8%) 4,000,000 ESTIMATED PROJECT COST 55,000,000 ESTIMATED COST PER SERVICE $ 3,670 2

3 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS When will Fast Start field operations begin? The Fast Start team is currently developing a detailed timeline for the project. Our intent is to begin work as soon as the necessary personnel and equipment are in place and startup funding for the program is secured. Will Flint homeowners be required to pay for the LSL removal on their property? No. Although a portion of the LSL is located on private property, the Fast Start program will remove and replace the full LSL at no cost to the homeowner. The homeowner will be required to sign an agreement that authorizes the City of Flint to remove and replace the portions of the LSL located on private property and allow access to the water meter inside the home. Is the Fast Start plan designed to do partial LSL replacement or full LSL replacement? Fast Start is a full LSL replacement program, meaning that the LSL is completely removed and replaced from the water main in the street to the water meter in the home. The process completely removes all lead components between the main and the meter. Partial LSL removal can be problematic because it does not remove the portion of the service line located on private property. Again, the Fast Start plan is a full LSL replacement program. Will households still be required to filter their water after the full LSL removal and replacement is complete? Yes, following the removal and replacement of the LSL with a new copper line, a water filter will be installed at the kitchen tap for three months as a precaution. Some people have suggested that the gradual restoration of the phosphate coating inside the Flint water distribution system is sufficient to protect the health of Flint residents. Do you agree? No. While the phosphate coating can be effective in reducing water lead exposure, it is increasingly recognized that corrosion control is of limited effectiveness, and LSL replacement is the only way to be sure that this hazard is eliminated. Given the trauma associated with the Flint water crisis, we believe that Flint should become a model for lead pipe replacement in the nation. 3

4 Some have said that LSL replacements should not begin until the state completes their technical analysis of Flint s water distribution system. Do you agree? No. The Fast Start program targets high risk households first, then scales up as the location of additional LSLs is fully mapped. There is no compelling reason to delay the removal of known LSLs at high risk households. Should all cities in Michigan where LSLs are in use adopt the Fast Start approach? Not necessarily. In communities where stable water chemistry and robust corrosion control is in place, LSLs can be replaced over a longer period of time to spread out the significant cost of removing and replacing all lead services in the system. The Lansing BWL, for example, has removed 13,500 LSLs over the past decade at a cost of $42 million. Due to the unprecedented loss of confidence in the Flint water supply, and the ready availability of BWL technical assistance, a much faster approach is warranted to restore public confidence in the city's water supply. Nonetheless, the Fast Start approach could be implemented by communities that wish to eliminate LSLs on an expedited basis. Is the one year timeline for project completion a realistic goal? The project timeline is based on the BWL s estimate for removing 15,000 LSLs in one year under optimal conditions. Meeting this timeline will depend on when funding is secured and how long it takes to ramp up the full scale operation. Even if the one year timeline for the removal of all LSLs is not achieved, the program s primary goal is to begin removing the LSLs at high risk households right away and to restore public confidence in the Flint water supply as quickly as possible. If fewer LSLs than 15,000 are identified, the project would be less costly and finish even faster. Initial estimates of the cost for this program were between $2,000 and $3,000 per household. The cost of the Fast Start program is now estimated at $3,670 per household. What accounts for the difference? The initial cost estimate was based on the BWL s actual costs associated with the field crews and equipment employed in Lansing over the last decade. The total estimated cost of the Flint project includes local prevailing wage and equipment rates, large scale administrative and logistical support, and an eight percent project contingency to account for potential variations in the costs experienced in Flint. State officials have noted that only 5,000 LSLs have been positively identified so far in Flint. What is the basis for the Fast Start estimate of 15,000 LSLs? Current data on the Flint water distribution system indicates that the location of more than 5,000 residential LSLs have been confirmed. When a full inventory of the system is complete, we project that the total number of residential LSLs will approach or possibly exceed 15,000. The existing pool of 5,000 known LSLs is more than sufficient to begin the Fast Start program. Field operations will ramp up as additional LSL locations are identified and program costs will be adjusted based on the total number of residential LSL locations in the city. 4

5 What about schools, businesses and other locations in Flint where LSLs or other lead based components may be in use? The Fast Start program focuses on eliminating all residential LSLs in Flint as quickly as possible. Eliminating lead components from the entire water distribution system and from inside homes and buildings is a longer term project that will require additional planning and additional resources. For institutional entities like schools and businesses, bottled water can continue to provide for their short term needs. It is also worth noting that most large facilities are served by high capacity cast iron water services, not the LSLs typically found in residential water services. 5