In 2019, Newark, N.J., began replacing the city’s 23,000 lead water-service lines that for decades had put residents at risk of the severe health consequences of lead exposure. Working with state officials, local leaders secured the necessary financing, cut red tape and got to work. An estimated 10-year job wound up taking less than three. Children and families in Newark now have what all households deserve: clean, safe drinking water flowing in every home.
Newark’s success shows how infrastructure—homes, schools, office buildings, roads, parks and, yes, pipes—impacts health. I saw this firsthand over 20 years working for and eventually leading Chicago’s public health department. And the country will see it thanks to major new funding from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) to replace lead service lines nationwide. Ensuring that communities with the most lead service lines are prioritized for replacement funding is a health, economic and moral imperative.
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