Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Water Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents raise PFAS concerns; mayor outlines lead-service-line inventory, costs and federal assistance
Summary
A resident told council Feb. 25 she received a second letter reporting elevated PFAS in drinking water from the Conestoga River; Mayor Surajhi described the city's federal lead-service-line inventory obligations, estimated inventory and replacement costs, and an EPA assistance visit planned for March.
A resident asked Lancaster City Council on Feb. 25 for clarity and action after receiving notices that her drinking water contains elevated levels of PFAS; the mayor told council the city is conducting a federally mandated lead-service-line inventory and outlined its scale, costs and federal assistance plans.
At the meeting Tamara Hackman, identified herself as a Lancaster resident on the 800 block (block number given as 848) and said she had received two notices reporting elevated PFAS levels in drinking water sourced from the Conestoga River. She asked whether the city has a plan to shift sources to the Susquehanna River and what purification technologies the city is using to remove PFAS. "We deserve clean, safe water, and the city must take every possible step to ensure that," Hackman said.
Mayor Surajhi responded during the mayoral report, saying the city submitted an initial lead-service-line inventory in October and must complete a final inventory by 2027. The mayor described the new federal requirement that the city verify customer-side lines and noted that lines unknown in 2027 will be considered lead and then subject to replacement within a 10-year window. The mayor said the city currently reports about 34,000 unknown customer-side lines and 469 known city-owned lead lines in the system; she said the city serves roughly 50,000 water accounts.
The mayor gave preliminary cost estimates for the work: about $16,000,000 to finish the inventory (not to replace lines) and an estimated $19,000,000 to replace known lead lines. She said the city hopes to reduce costs by recruiting public participation in reporting service-line materials and by using volunteer assistance. She also announced the EPA's "Getting the Lead Out" (GLOW) team was scheduled to be in Lancaster March 12–15 to help with identification efforts, and noted that nearly 16,000 customers have submitted verification of their service-line material so far.
On PFAS, Mayor Surajhi cautioned that the city is not responsible for identifying upstream PFAS sources and encouraged residents to contact state representatives and regulators. She told council that the Susquehanna River is not inherently cleaner than the Conestoga but has greater volume and dilution; she said about 20% of PFAS exposure is estimated to come from drinking water, while 80% is from consumer products and packaging.
No formal water-related legislation was introduced at the Feb. 25 meeting. Council members and staff said they will continue to provide updates and advised residents to use the city's online form to submit service-line material information.
Clarifying details: the mayor said final inventory completion is due in 2027, the city has 34,000 unknown customer-side lines, 469 known city-owned lead lines, serves about 50,000 accounts, and provided preliminary cost estimates of $16 million for inventory completion and $19 million for replacement of known lead lines. The EPA GLOW team was scheduled March 12–15 to assist with identification efforts.
