ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — Over a third of water service lines in New York are or may be lead, according to an interactive map the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund released on Thursday. About 3 million New Yorkers get drinking water from 1.25 million problematic pipes statewide.
The map pinpoints the highest concentration of lead or possible lead lines in Poughkeepsie, at 82%. New York City has the highest raw number of problematic pipes, with 123,000 needing replacement. Buffalo and Syracuse—each at 45%— and Rochester at 28% represent the highest concentrations in large cities outside of NYC.
The NYLCVEF tallied Fulton County as having the highest percentage of lead or possible lead service lines among all of New York’s 62 counties, at 21%. U.S. Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s NYC congressional district 14 had the highest percentage out of all congressional districts at 24%. Democratic State Senator April Baskin’s Buffalo senate district 63 had the highest percentage in that category at 30%, and Democratic Assemblymember Gary Pretlow’s 89 was the highest assembly district at 49%.
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Lead is a neurotoxin that can cause irreversible brain damage especially in children, even at levels lower than 5 micrograms per deciliter, as there is no safe level of lead ingestion. The federal goal for lead in drinking water is zero. Federal regulation to eliminate lead pipes—Lead and Copper Rule Improvements issued October 2024—required most water systems to replace all lead service lines by 2037…