Whitefish Bay residents receive letter warning of potential lead exposure

 

WHITEFISH BAY, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Hundreds of families in Whitefish Bay received a letter alerting them a water service line connecting to their home is made from lead, increasing their risk to lead exposure.

"If they had received more of a general elevated lead level, I'd be more concerned upfront," said Whitefish Bay resident Lee Van Dehy. "I still do want to get that testing done just to confirm this isn’t an anomaly situation where our water is particularly more leaded."

Van Dehy and his family just moved into his home in September, and he says they just want the problem fixed.

"Is it that I need to take the first step or is it they are going to start going neighborhood by neighborhood, now you, as a homeowner, are compelled to do this." said Van Dehy. "I feel like right now, from a budget perspective, we have some money to set aside and do this."

The question on many people's minds is the cost.

"I know we will be impacted in order to get those lead pipes changed, and I guess it needs to happen, so you just hope it can spread some way evenly that doesn’t impact us too terribly," said Whitefish Bay resident Susan Moss.

The village side of the service line will be paid for by the water utility. However, the private side of the service line is the responsibility of the homeowner, estimated to cost $8,000 per service line replacement.

"It's not my fault that it's lead pipes, I just bought the house," said Van Dehy. "But they did the best that they could at the time, and they are still providing us with running water...so it's unfortunate, let's work together and make this happen."

The village has already begun replacing lead services in the area. There will be a meeting on Dec. 2 with local leaders to answer more questions about those costs, water testing, and a timeline for the work. The majority of residents we spoke with said they will be there.

Residents in West Allis and Wauwatosa also recently received similar letters, and it's because of the Environmental Protection Agency's lead and copper rule revision, which requires all of those service lines to be replaced with work starting in 2027.