Entering the third year of its lead pipe replacement program, Waukegan is completing work for the second year of a 20-year project, planning for the third phase while avoiding potential pitfalls coming from a cost-cutting and deportation-minded administration in Washington.
As people from the city and Robinson Engineering, the professional firm hired to assist, reach out to residents in designated areas, they find that some people are reluctant to come to the door. Mayor Ann Taylor said she has concerns about the federally funded, forgivable loan program.
Funded by the city and not the residents, Taylor said the cost of replacing pipes from the water main to the meter inside a home costs between $12,000 and $14,000. It is a cost the city does not want to make residents bear.
“We can’t ask our residents to pay that,” Taylor said. “I’m absolutely worried about funding. Environmental issues don’t seem to be a priority for the current administration in Washington,” she added, referring to changes since President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20.
Officials from the city and Robinson Engineering are now learning which buildings are among the 320 left to do — 80 are complete — in designated areas north of downtown Waukegan and some on the city’s south side.
Last year, Illinois received $240 million for lead pipe replacement to be doled out by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Nearly half come in the form of forgivable loans functioning as a grant.
Diane Moeller, the project engineer with Robinson Engineering assigned to the effort, said the 400 homes currently receiving copper piping are in the area between Martin Luther King Drive and Lenox Avenue, and between North and Western avenues north of downtown.
With 600 homes receiving new copper piping from the water main to their meter in 2023, and another 400 during the current fiscal year, Moeller said bids will be sent in March for the 300 buildings scheduled for later this year.
While Moeller said people can take a picture of the pipe leading to their water meter, go to the city’s website and upload the photo to let officials know if the pipe needs to be replaced, much of the discovery is done by knocking on doors to tour the premises.
Since agents from the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began raids to deport undocumented people on Jan. 25 and 26, Moeller said she is noticing residents in the city’s sizeable Hispanic community are reluctant to come to the door. She has some advice.
“We are seeing it more and more,” Moeller said. “They can go to our website and see the pictures of our entire team. If it is one of us at the door, it is safe to open it. We’re all Spanish speakers. Our engineers are not from ICE.”
Newer homes do not have lead pipes. Moeller said they are more common in houses built prior to 1970 in Waukegan and the Chicago area. Lead pipes were federally banned in 1986. There will be public meetings to let people in areas designated for work know more about the effort.
“They’re getting a benefit to their home at no cost,” Moeller said. “Once we start working more, people in a neighborhood start getting involved. It helps when they hear it from their neighbors.”
Getting lead pipes out of homes is also a public health issue. Taylor said they are likely present in the city’s older homes. Getting their lead pipes replaced with copper reduces the possibility of lead poisoning.
“We want to make sure it is not a danger to our families, particularly those with small children,” she said.
