FDL City Council Passes Ordinance Mandating Replacement Of Lead Water Service Lines

By a 5 to 2 vote the Fond du Lac City Council Wednesday night approved a change to a City ordinance that will mandate replacement of lead water service lines on private property when there is a street project or emergency replacement is needed. The EPA is expected to change regulations allowing no lead in drinking water. But when that will occur and how long cities will have to comply is the guessing game. Public Works Director Jordan Skiff told the Council the EPA will require more testing and they found 4 homes above the current allowable limit in the last 43 homes they tested. He says they have to be 90 percent in compliance and those four homes almost made the City’s program non-compliant.  Skiff says they have a Safe Drinking Water Loan of $300,000 they can use to provide cost share with homeowners over the next three years and he would like to replace lead service lines for 300 homes during that time. Council President Lee Lorrigan said she doesn’t like intrusion on personal property and thought the EPA was overstepping.