For years, Chicago has been struggling to replace its lead pipes. The city has more than 412,000 confirmed and suspected lead service lines — the most of any city in the country — but it doesn’t anticipate replacing all its pipes until 2076, some 30 years after a federal deadline. The issue is particularly dangerous because lead plumbing can leach the toxic metal into drinking water, causing brain damage, developmental delays among children, and other harms.
At a City Council committee meeting on Monday, alderpersons questioned officials from the departments of water management and finance about the slow pace of replacements and a monthslong delay in warning nearly a million Chicagoans about the risks of toxic lead pipes.
Water department officials said they can’t afford to move as quickly as federal deadlines require, but Brendan White, the Department of Finance’s debt manager, said millions of federal and city dollars obligated for replacements haven’t been used yet.
Since 2023, the city has drawn between $70 mil... Read more
