Milwaukee expects to see the impact of federal infrastructure funds on lead service line replacement next year
Alison DirrThe federal infrastructure funds highlighted in a visit by Vice President Kamala Harris this week are expected to boost Milwaukee's effort to replace lead service lines, though the city is waiting on key details before it can proceed, Department of Public Works leaders reported Wednesday.
Nearly 70,000 lead service lines still exist in the city, and estimates put the cost of replacing all the lead service lines in Milwaukee, on both public and private property, at nearly $800 million.
DPW Interim Commissioner Karen Dettmer on Wednesday called Harris' visit "a huge vote of confidence" in the city's program and its ability to expand compared with other cities and states that haven't launched programs yet.
"I think it was very encouraging that the vice president's remarks were indicative to contractors and unions to get their workforce up and running," Dettmer told the Common Council's Public Works Committee. "Time is of the essence."
Harris and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan were in town Monday to promote the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law and the push to replace lead pipes across the nation, including in Milwaukee.
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Lead poisoning can carry lifelong consequences, particularly for young children, and there is no safe level of exposure. Sources include paint chips and plumbing that carries drinking water.
Dettmer anticipated that the city would start feeling the impact of the additional funding on its ability to replace the service lines in 2023.
However, the department is still waiting for key details.
The EPA is expected to release guidance to the states by the end of February, after which the state will prepare a plan for distributing the funds, said Patrick Pauly, administration manager at Milwaukee Water Works. The state's plan will need approval from the federal agency, he said.
The city anticipates knowing this fall how it will be able to access a portion of the approximately $48 million that has been allocated to Wisconsin for lead service line replacements in 2022, he said. Additional funding for lead service line replacements is expected to come to the state in future years.
There are many unanswered questions not only about how the state will divvy up the funding but also about what the breakdown will be between principal forgiveness loans and low-interest loans, he said.
The state Department of Natural Resources and Department of Administration will oversee the process at the state level, he and Dettmer said.
City officials are not currently figuring the infrastructure funding into this year's plans for lead service line replacements, though Dettmer said the department will have contracts ready on the chance that they can start ramping up.
The city's 2022 budget funds 1,100 replacements, she said.
The pandemic also affected the city's ability to replace lead service lines, with the total replacements dropping from 1,000 in 2019 to 888 in 2020 and 982 in 2021, according to the department.
In all, the city has replaced 4,425 lead service lines between Jan. 1, 2017, and Dec. 31 last year because of leaks, planned infrastructure projects, at child care facilities or schools, or because owners started the project, according to DPW.
Former Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett had planned to use federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to address lead paint remediation and rely on the infrastructure funding for lead service line replacement. The Common Council and Barrett last year allocated $26 million in ARPA funds to lead paint abatement and $3 million for lead abatement workforce development.
But contractor capacity has also been a key challenge facing the city as local officials work to rid the city of lead.
Pauly said the city has five contractors it routinely uses for lead.
The city's use of one of them — American Sewer Services — drew concerns from Ald. Robert Bauman, the committee chair, and Ald. Russell Stamper II.
In 2018, the company lost contracts with the city after several employees displayed guns and another brought a Ku Klux Klan sticker to a worksite.
Contact Alison Dirr at 414-224-2383 or adirr@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlisonDirr.