Lead pipe replacement progresses
More than a dozen applicants to be part of plan, city mayor says
KINGSTON, N.Y. » More than a dozen applicants, half of them landlords, have signed up to be a part of the city’s lead pipe replacement program, according to Mayor Steve Noble.
“The Lead Service Replacement Program is moving along well,” Noble said of the effort launched in late April. “To date, we’ve received about 15 applications, with more inquiries coming in each day.”
In an email Wednesday, Noble said about half of the applications have been submitted by landlords of multi-family residences.
“As you may recall, we are estimating that we will be able to complete 85 projects over a two year period, with a maximum of 43 to be completed this year,” Noble said. “We expect to meet that maximum and to then create a list of properties to service in 2019.
“We anticipate putting the first round of projects out to bid shortly, grouped together by location, with the first set of lead service line replacements to start this summer,” Noble added. “I’m glad to see that property owners of single and multi-family residences are responding to this valuable program.”
On April 24, the city launched its Lead Service Line Replacement
Program using $544,000 in funding from the state Department of Health.
While Kingston’s drinking water does not contain lead, corrosion of lead service pipes can cause lead to leach into water flowing
through the pipes into a home and potentially into drinking water, Noble has said.
Noble has said that homes built before 1940 are likely to have lead service line and that corrosion of those pipes could allow lead to leach into the water in those homes.
Properties eligible to apply for the program include
those on any part of Franklin Street, as well as those in the area bordered by Franklin Street, Clinton Avenue, Cedar Street and Broadway.
Households with a child under the age of 6 who has tested positive for elevated lead levels in blood also may apply, even if the property is outside of the target area.
The Lead Service Line
Replacement Program will be free to most owner-occupied properties. Properties that are owner-occupied are eligible for assistance, but property owners who do not occupy eligible properties will be required to contribute $750 toward the cost of the work.
Applications are available online at bit.ly/2Johh0W and will be accepted until
May 22. Additional information is available from Stephan Knox, in Kingston’s Office of Economic and Community Development, at (845) 334-3932 or by email at sknox@kingston-ny.gov.
Once an application has been submitted, the city will verify if the property has an eligible lead service line.
Most replacement projects
will take one to two days and will require the interruption of water service.
The funding for the Kingston work is part of $20 million being distributed statewide “to replace residential drinking water lead service lines as part of New York’s Clean Water Infrastructure Act of 2017,” according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office.