Public Health Lib Practice - Lead Pipe Replacement

By Christopher Williams, Public Health Liberation Founder

Recently, I was curious about data on the prevalence of lead service lines in my neighborhood given forthcoming federal and local funding for replacement of lead pipes. I found that Washington, DC had a sophisticated map-based database showing data for the presence of lead on the public and private sides. You can see it here - DC Lead Database. As I reviewed the data for my neighborhood, I soon discovered that there were missing data for major areas in public housing. I emailed our city council alerting them to this omission.

January 24, 2022

Dear Officials,

As federal funds for lead service line replacement will be forthcoming, it is important to replace lines in vulnerable communities - a key population for this policy change. However, if data are not available, then it is not clear how this population is prioritized first. Commissioner Hamilton also has more information on facing barriers with DOEE on similar matters with lead replacement programs.

I am writing to ask that we get updated information on the service line for the public and private sides for Syphax Gardens and James Creek. Source: DC Lead Database

Sincerely,
Chris

Note: I attached the picture below.

Here is the response from a director for one council member’s office.

February 11, 2022

Hello Chris,

Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention. I did a couple spot checks myself of other DCHA properties, and those are not the only two without data. I reached out to DC Water shortly after we received your email. They have been trying to get in touch with DCHA about this and had lost contact. I reached out to DCHA and they have sent me a new contact who I hope will be more responsive to DC Water. I connected the two parties. I will check in on progress in a couple months.

Warmly,

Katie