BOONE, Iowa—At the Boone City Council meeting on June 2nd, Public Works Director Waylon Andrews told the Council that another round of mandated letters, informing residents of possible lead waterlines, would be sent before July 2nd. Not every resident will receive a letter, just those that are believed to have a lead water service line. Andrews did tell the Council that there would be fewer letters, because records have been updated since the first required letters were sent last October. In Iowa, initial letters of notification of were required to be sent last October and then annually. The following is a press release from the City of Boone regarding the mandated letters:

Many customers of the Boone Water Works may have a sense of “déjà vu all over again” next week when they go to their mailboxes. That’s because the water works, like thousands of public and private utilities across the country, will be sending out the same notice mailed out last October with information about a federal mandate requiring the replacement of lead pipes to eliminate the health dangers that the metal poses.

“It’s the exact same letter that went out the last time. It’s just a federal requirement that it has to go annually now on by July 2,” said Public Works Director Waylon Andrews. “Some people will probably see them the middle of next week and most by the end of the week.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ordered the replacement of about nine million lead lines to houses and businesses over the next decade.

About 330,000 Iowa homeowners received notices late last year, saying they may have lead drinking water service lines that should be replaced, based on the most recent EPA survey of community water suppliers. Statewide, utilities and homeowners could see an estimated $835 million gap between the cost of replacing approximately 100,000 lead lines and the federal funding available for the work, an advocacy group has said.

The city staff manually folded 2,000 notices and stuffed and sealed them in envelopes for last year’s mailing. Since then, the staff has been able to remove more than 300 customers from next week’s mailing after determining their structures have copper service lines. This time, the work was outsourced to a company that specializes in large mailings, which Andrews said will be more economical and efficient. “(Water works customers) will receive this letter every year on or before July 2, and so we just want people to be aware of that and expect it,” Andrews said.

As part of the federal mandate, the city must take samples at 30 homes that meet specific criteria. David Moore of the USW Utility Group and lead operator at the Boone Water Works said, “We’re required to collect 30 samples every three years – 15 samples from homes with lead service lines and 15 from homes with copper service lines constructed after 1982 where lead solder was used. The main purpose of the sampling is to monitor the effectiveness of our treatment to control lead and copper from leaching out of the plumbing into the water. So far it’s been working very well, our last sampling period in 2022 all homes tested were well below the maximum contaminant level of .015 mg/l for lead and 1.3 mg/l for copper.”

Andrews said homeowners selected for sampling will be notified soon by mail. “I know some people are reluctant to participate but we’re required to do it at locations that have to be approved by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources,” he explained. “We really appreciate people understanding that it’s a mandate we have to follow and helping us out.”

The EPA rule will require the replacement of lead service lines (LSLs) by 2037. Andrews said there are an estimated 1,740 such lines in Boone’s water system at a total cost reaching approximately $15 million. Homeowners own the service lines and are financially responsible for replacing them at an estimated cost of $10,000 to $15,000 per line.

City leaders, like their counterparts in other communities, have been lobbying state and federal representatives to provide funding to defray those costs.

(contributed press release, City of Boone)