Hundreds of homes in Thunder Bay have lead pipes. Will bylaws reduce the risk like in other cities?

Kevin Duke says replacing the lead pipes in his home doesn’t seem possible.

A senior in Thunder Bay, Ontario didn’t know about lead pipes until the City of Thunder Bay started distributing NSF/ANSI-53-approved. Water Filter Pitcher Kit in 2020. A few years ago, he said, the city replaced the main water line at the street corner, but from there to their water meter, it’s all lead piping.

“I highly doubt I’ll be able to get all that changed,” Duke said.

Before the mid-1950s, lead service pipes were commonly used to connect people’s homes to city waterways. But as research came to light Dangers of poisonous metals to people’s healthThe National Plumbing Code of Canada Lead piping was banned in 1975 and lead solder in 1986.

Still, many older homes across the country have lead pipes. Earlier this month, the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) published a report Ontario municipalities were called upon to stop only partially replacing lead service lines.

“Lead levels can be really high in the months and years after a partial replacement because you’ve disrupted the lead line, and larger particles can get into your home,” said Julie Mutis, community outreach worker for CELA and lead author of the report.

The association is recommending that cities pass bylaws making it mandatory for property owners to replace lead pipe at the edge of the property line, while also providing income-adjusted financial assistance to help cover the cost.

“When they find the lead pipe, not only will they take it out from the city side and then drop another lead (pipe) in to hurt people, but they will remove everything at once,” Mutis said.

“This will mean that people who don’t actually know they have lead pipes will be assisted with their removal.”

is hamilton The only municipality in Ontario With a clause intended to prevent partial lead service-line replacement. Mutis said many communities in Quebec and Saskatchewan already have similar bylaws in place; For example, Saskatoon is on its way to doing so All lead service lines were replaced by 2029.

Lead levels can become really high in the months and years after a partial replacement because you have disrupted the lead line, and larger particles can get into your home.-Julie Mutis, community outreach worker for the Canadian Environmental Law Association

In Thunder Bay, the city offers an interest-free loan program as well as a $1,500 grant for eligible low-income and seniors. However, Duke questions whether this is enough.

“I think they should look at the household income and how much it would cost to complete that house,” he said. “I realize it will probably be a little on the tricky side, but they should be able to do something.”

$350M class-action lawsuit underway

Corrosion control programs are one way to address lead, but they are not always effective. In 2018, the city of Thunder Bay introduced small amounts of sodium hydroxide into the water supply to help Reduce the amount of lead leaking from old pipes.

After the chemicals were added, people began complaining about pinhole leaks in their copper pipes and hundreds of homeowners began experiencing flooding. The city phased out sodium hydroxide in early 2020, when it began providing NSF/ANSI-53-approved water pitchers and filters to properties with known lead service lines.

Later that year, a $350 million lawsuit The campaign against the city was led by Thunder Bay resident Patsy Stadnick on behalf of all those affected by the leak. It is seeking compensation to cover all residents, businesses and organizations whose pipes were damaged, or were at risk of damage or failure, due to the introduction of sodium hydroxide into the city’s water supply.

The city is defending itself in the matter. None of the allegations were proved in court.

David O’Connor, partner at Toronto-based law firm Roy O’Connor LLP Representing the plaintiff. He said the case has not yet reached the discovery stage of the investigation, but he expects pre-trial to be held by the end of next year and the case to be resolved by the end of 2026.

a small $350,000 lawsuit against city The case related to the leak has since been put on hold, as the plaintiffs have opted to become part of the class action instead.

‘Lead is more dangerous than we thought’

According to the city, there are approximately 5,586 publicly owned and 7,818 privately owned lead service lines connected to Thunder Bay’s water distribution system. 2024 Annual Drinking-Water-Quality Report.

Even low levels of lead have been linked to life-altering health effects, especially in children, CELA reports. These include:

• Decrease in IQ.
• learning difficulties.
• behavioral problems.
• Effects on fine motor skill development.

“As the years go by, we’re learning that lead is even more dangerous than we thought, and it’s important that we not lag behind the best practices being used in the rest of the country,” Mutis said.

A spokesperson for the City of Thunder Bay said they were “unable to accommodate interviews at this time” about the lead. Instead, he provided an email statement to CBC News explaining how the city has committed $25 million over a 20-year period to replace lead service lines.

It says the city continues to replace publicly owned lead lines as other infrastructure work is completed, such as during watermain replacement and renovation capital projects. People can also apply for Priority Lead Replacement Program The city has to replace publicly owned lines on its streets.

Finding an Affordable Solution

County. Andrew Folds moved a motion for Thunder Bay Council to consider a loan and grant program to support privately owned lead service-line replacements. He questions whether making these replacements mandatory is in the best interests of the community.

“The question is do you want punitive (strategies) or do you want incentivizing? And the thing I’m really not interested in is forcing homeowners who are already marginalized into undue financial hardship,” Folds said.

“How can we make our fiscal stimulus more accessible and equitably distributed to citizens?”

At the end of 2024, the city had approved 118 interest-free loan applications for residents replacing privately owned lead pipes.

“The challenge is that completely solving this problem will cost extraordinary amounts of money that no municipality can afford to commit all at once,” Folds said. “How do we execute something with a sense of urgency?”

Paul Berger, an associate professor at Lakehead University and lead organizer for Citizens United for a Sustainable Planet, said it makes sense to replace lead service lines in their entirety rather than partial replacement.

Berger said, “I think creating a bylaw forcing homeowners to put up half of the lead line is a good recommendation. That would increase property values.”

“But I think it’s very important that it’s done with equity in mind and that the city creates some housing to make sure it’s affordable for people.”

Another important aspect, he said, is to make sure people are well-educated, both about the leadership and the city’s plans to address it.

“People often don’t pay attention to things they don’t think will affect them, but when it suddenly affects them, they’re scrambling for information.”