POUGHKEEPSIE – Congressman Pat Ryan met with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) leadership and representatives of the New York State Department of Health in the City of Poughkeepsie on Tuesday to show them firsthand the scope of the city’s lead water pipe crisis.
Ryan, supported by Mayor Marc Nelson and Councilwomen Yvonne Flowers, Nedra Patterson Thompson, and Megan Deichler, is pushing for federal and state resources to be directed to Poughkeepsie to fix the systemic lead pipe issues throughout the city and across the Hudson Valley.
Assistance at the state level is being provided by State Senator Rob Rolison and Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson who were also at city hall.
The $15 billion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides funds to replace harmful lead water pipes nationwide, and the next deadline to apply for this funding is August 25th.
By compelling the EPA to visit and showing them the extent of the lead pipe crisis, Ryan believes he has put Poughkeepsie in a strong position to receive the necessary federal resources. There are currently more than 5,000 water lines in the city that are contaminated with lead.
“There is no safe or acceptable level of lead for our kids – I’m committed to urgently removing all lead pipes so that every parent can rest assured that their child is drinking clean water,” said Congressman Pat Ryan. The congressman is confident that Poughkeepsie is poised to receive substantial funding after the EPA representatives examined the extent of the project.
“The latest science is clear: there is no safe level of lead exposure. Reducing lead in drinking water is a top priority for EPA and the Biden-Harris Administration,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Water, Radhika Fox.
“This hasn’t happened before in my memory, and I think it should signal to all of us and to the broader community the importance we attach to this issue,” said Mayor Nelson. “The meeting we had, facilitated by Congressman Ryan and his staff, that brought all of us here today was so uplifting because our partners at the Department of Health and EPA shared their excitement about this once-in-a-generation opportunity.”
Nelson did stress that the replacement of all the contaminated pipes will take time to complete. “This is not going to happen overnight,” Nelson previously said. “There is a tremendous amount of pre-planning that has to take place in order for the project to be completed in a fiscally responsible manner.”
Councilwoman Yvonne Flowers was pleased with the EPA meeting. “This is the type of assistance Poughkeepsie needs to be successful with this public safety initiative.” Councilwoman Deichler said the lead contamination in Poughkeepsie is dangerous. “We have some of the highest numbers of elevated lead levels in the state.
In addition to city leadership, Ryan was also joined by the EPA’s supervisor for the Drinking Water and Municipal Infrastructure Branch, as well as the director of the Bureau of Water Supply Protection and the director of the Division of Environmental Health Protection from the New York Department of Health.
