As the city of Hammond works to replace line service lines, one city official said he’s appreciative of federal and state assistance.
“We’re an old city,” said Jaime Prieto, deputy chief executive operator of Hammond Water Works. “There’s a lot of things that we need to repair and maintain.”
The city of Hammond has received $5 million through the Indiana Finance Authority’s State Revolving Fund program to help replace its lead service lines.
“The City of Hammond’s drinking water project will replace aging lead service lines in older areas of the distribution system,” said an IFA news release. “The project will ensure the City of Hammond is able to provide consistent quality water and help protect public health within its service area.”
According to the news release, Hammond will save about $5.5 million in principal and interest costs because of the program. SRF loans are administered by the IFA with joint funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the State of Indiana.
Prieto expects that the $5 million from the IFA will help replace lead service lines for about 400 Hammond homes.
In October 2024, the Biden administration issued a final rule requiring drinking water systems nationwide to identify and replace lead pipes within 10 years, according to the EPA. The EPA also planned to provide $2.6 billion in drinking water infrastructure funding, according to Post-Tribune archives.
The agency’s website does not say if the Trump administration has overturned that rule.
Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott previously told the Post-Tribune that he was concerned about funding to replace the city’s lead pipes, even with EPA funds.
The IFA program is the first time Hammond has teamed up with state and federal agencies to replace service lines, Prieto said.
“(This money) for lead pipe replacement is great,” he added. “We’re taking full advantage. Whatever the government wants to give us, we’ll take.”
In 2024, Hammond received $2.5 million to change lead lines for 150 homes in the city, Prieto said. Hammond and other surrounding communities are “underserved,” Prieto said, so receiving assistance is a great help for the city.
“We have water mains that are about 100 years old, but we also have the lowest water rate in the state of Indiana, so we don’t want to raise our rates,” he said. “But, at the same time, we do have improvements we have to make in our distribution and in our plan.”