City needs new solutions for lead in drinking water, advocacy group says

The Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) is calling on the City of Thunder Bay to change its approach to removing lead from drinking water.

“Thunder Bay should end the practice of partially replacing lead service lines (LSL) and introduce a by-law that mandates and supports residents with the replacement of LSLs on private property,” the non-profit legal aid clinic recommends in conjunction with the release of a new report.

CELA is concerned that Thunder Bay and many other Ontario municipalities have chosen to only replace LSLs on the public side of the property line if the owners don’t voluntarily replace their portion, leaving them and future occupants at risk for lead exposure.

Julie Mutis, a community outreach worker with CELA, said partial replacements can actually make the problem even worse for months or years after.

“Thunder Bay is doing a lot of watermain replacements. So they dig up the street and find there are lead service lines connecting the water main to the houses. The city’s policy is that ‘lead is dangerous and we’re going to remove it,’ but if the owner doesn’t want to…the city will just connect it to the existing lead pipe, fill in the hole and be on their way.”

This is an ill-advised approach, according to Mutis.

“What happens with this is that for months or even years following, there can be really sporadic spikes in lead to very dangerous levels, because you’ve disrupted that lead pipe. You’ve cut it in half, and now big chunks of particles can get into the water,” she told Newswatch.

“The research shows that if there is a reduction in lead levels in the long run at that tap in a house with a partial replacement, it’s not necessarily very significant, not getting it below 10 parts per billion, which is currently the Ontario maximum acceptable concentration.”

Mutis added that partial replacement is not an effective way to reduce lead levels particularly in communities such as Thunder Bay, where other mitigation measures such as corrosion control have been tried and abandoned.

She said there’s a growing trend across Canada for municipalities to make it mandatory to completely replace lead service lines.

“There is no safe amount of lead…there’s a change in best practices. Whereas before people were kind of — without thinking —  using partial replacement methods, we’re seeing municipalities finding ways to make sure that partial replacements stop happening, and we’re saying it’s time for Ontario municipalities to catch up to best practice.”

As of 2024, it was estimated that Thunder Bay had about 7.800 privately-owned and 5,600 publicly-owned LSLs.

According to CELA, in Thunder Bay in 2023/24 roughly nine per cent of residential plumbing samples for lead exceeded the provincial guideline of 10 parts per billion, while 18 per cent exceeded the tighter federal guideline of five parts per billion.

Thunder Bay continues to provide residents of properties with lead service lines free pitcher-style filters and filter replacements.

The city also has a loan program to encourage property-owners to replace lead service pipes on their side of the property line, but relatively few owners have participated.

The offer includes a low-interest loan of up to $5,000, repayable over five years, except for low-income owners who can qualify for a 10-year payback period plus a grant of $1,500.

By the end of 2024, the city had approved applications for 118 interest-free loans since the program’s inception in 2022.

Mutis said CELA has observed common challenges across the province in improving the uptake for loan programs.

“People didn’t know know they had lead pipes. They don’t know exactly what to do about that, and they’re being asked to make a big investment. Lead is not sort of a flashy issue. It’s something that’s been there for awhile, and as much as we want to communicate about the ongoing harm, people are just looking at the expense in this sort of not-so-great economy.”

She said this leaves under-resourced and vulnerable people disadvantaged, including tenants who have no control over whether their landlord replaces a lead service line.

CELA wants the city to make the following changes to its mitigation plan:

• Pass a by-law banning partial LSL replacements
• Ensure financial supports are accessible to landlords
• Make LSL-related property restoration an eligible cost for financial support
• Give residents the chance to use pre-approved contractors in order to reduce the administrative burden and help normalize costs across vendors
• Consider broadening income criteria for 10-year loans and for grants to reflect household characteristics in older parts of the city where LSLs are more common
• Address harms caused by past partial replacements by setting clear policy objectives for eliminating all lead drinking water infrastructure including existing partial LSLs on private property
• Coordinate the timeline for complete LSL removal in conjunction with planned water infrastructure work

Newswatch reached out to the City of Thunder Bay for comment on the CELA’s proposals.

An interview was not provided, but the city released the following statement from Michelle Warywoda, director of the environment division, infrastructure and operations, which noted that the city plans to spend $25 million over the next 20 years replacing city-owned lead service lines: