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Peekskill water department: 1,600 service-line records unknown as EPA inventory begins
Summary
The water department told the council it has about 1,600 service connections with unknown material on the city side and roughly 500 homes still need interior verification; no lead service lines are confirmed so far, but some galvanized lines were identified. Staff will continue door-to-door outreach, mail notifications, post a city spreadsheet, and report to the state and EPA as required.
The city’s water supervisor told the council the department is meeting a new Environmental Protection Agency requirement to inventory all water service-line materials and notify residents.
“We have, 1,600 service lines that we do not know what they are. They're underground. The records, you know, they could be from the thirties or the forties, and we don't know what they are,” Dave Rambo said, describing the scope of the city-side unknowns and a plan to pothole and identify service-line materials. He explained that when the water-meter replacement project was done, crews recorded what they found inside many homes, but about 500 residences still require interior verification.
Rambo said staff have been knocking on doors, leaving door hangers and telephone contact information (the number given in the presentation was 734-4110) for homeowners to schedule an appointment. He reported that, to date, the department has not confirmed any lead service lines, though it has found galvanized service lines in some homes; the department will add discovered data to its inventory and the state health department’s online listing as required.
Councilors pressed staff on homeowner notification after a resident said crews had visited but left without telling the homeowner the finding. The water supervisor acknowledged an oversight in an early batch of visits and pledged that, going forward, residents will receive mailed notices when appropriate and will be able to consult the city or the state health department’s website for their service-line material.
The department said it will continue phased potholing and data collection, and that it expects to submit updates to state and federal authorities on the schedule required by the EPA.
