Community groups in Syracuse, NY are calling on city officials to declare a state of emergency over high levels of lead in the city’s tap water, which in some homes was found to be more than twice the levels found in Flint, Michigan, during his period. drinking water crisis.
The city of Syracuse says an emergency declaration is not warranted because it has already secured $22.8 million in state funding to replace more than 3,000 lead service lines in the city over the next year. The city’s Water Department has increased the number and rate of lead service line replacements in recent years and will continue to do so until all lead pipes are replaced, says Greg Loh, the city’s policy director. city of Syracuse, adding that affected residents were notified. and that the city held a public media briefing to announce the findings.
In an Oct. 16 letter, a coalition of 12 medical providers, residents and national groups urged state and local officials to declare a state of emergency based on lead levels found during routine sampling last July. far exceeding the current level of the US Environmental Protection Agency. of 15 parts per billion (ppb). Ten percent of homes sampled in July showed a level of 70 ppb. An emergency declaration would give the city access to federal funds to help fix the problem.
“We believe that much more must be done immediately to raise public awareness of the seriousness of lead-contaminated drinking water in Syracuse and to respond effectively to the crisis,” the groups wrote.
According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, which along with Earthjustice is helping local groups, a New York Freedom of Information Act (FOIL) request of the city’s test results showed that a home in 2024 had 2,520 ppb of lead and another in 2023. had 775 ppb. More than 14,000 homes are believed to have lead pipes in Syracuse.
In an email, Loh said these results are “outliers compared to the sampling conducted over the past 10 years.”
Subsequent monitoring showed that eight properties with excesses required resampling and returned below the EPA action level. “The results of the next round of EPA-required testing are expected soon and will guide further actions,” Loh said. He added that the city is taking action in coordination with the New York State and Onondaga County health departments and following EPA requirements.
Erik Olson, NRDC’s senior strategic director of health and environmental health, says the nonprofit has filed another state FOIL request to better understand how the city is conducting its monitoring. “We’re a little skeptical about how the number could drop from 70 ppb, a sevenfold decrease, in a matter of months,” he said. “We know the numbers are extremely high in Syracuse,” he said.
Groups are looking for immediate and quick action
The groups have also requested that the city fully inform and educate local residents about the dangers of lead in drinking water and, in the short term, immediately provide free lead filters to all vulnerable residents, not just those who have children at higher risk. .
Oceanna Fair, South Side branch leader with Families for Lead Freedom Now in Syracuse, New York, says that as the oldest resident of a home that not only has lead paint, she has now learned lines of lead service, is currently ineligible for free lead filters, even though her granddaughter spends considerable time at her home.
“We need urgent action to get the word out, provide water filters immediately to the most vulnerable families and protect our children from lead, wherever it is found,” she said.
The groups have also called for the City to cover all costs to replace service lines for people who might not otherwise be able to afford to pay their share of the replacements. Syracuse has one of the nation’s highest child poverty rates among large cities, according to current data from the US Census Bureau.
