An Equity Approach to Lead Pipe Replacement

Writing in Governing, pediatrician and former Chicago health commissioner Julie Morita highlights the importance of replacing lead water pipes that have, for decades, put Americans at risk for lead exposure, particularly as funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) becomes available. For Morita, “Ensuring that communities with the most lead service lines are prioritized for replacement funding is a health, economic and moral imperative.”

Morita recommends an approach to lead line replacement that focuses on marginalized communities that have borne the brunt of lead exposure. “Residential segregation, structural racism and chronic disinvestment in water infrastructure have contributed to higher risk of exposure to lead in drinking water in low-income communities and communities of color, and subsequently to higher blood lead levels among children — Black children in particular — living in those places.”

Morita continues, “To ensure an equitable approach, policymakers in charge of funding distribution must start with the most affected communities,” where the burden has been highest. For Morita,“it is imperative that communities wit