Property owners in Kentucky will receive notices if they have lead or galvanized water lines or if the material in a water line is not known. (Getty Images)
Kentuckians will soon get notices from their water utilities as part of a national plan to eliminate water lines made of the neurotoxin lead — along with a chance to replace suspect pipes at no cost to themselves.
The notices will tell property owners if they have lead or galvanized water lines on their property and if there are utility-owned lead lines going to the property that need to be replaced. Property owners will also get a notice if the material in a water line is not known.
Utilities are mailing the notices as part of new regulations finalized last month by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that seek to remove lead water lines across the country over the next 10 years. But environmental protection officials and water utilities first need to know where lead water lines are.
Lead is a harmful neurotoxin, especially to children , that can leach into drinking water through aging lead water lines that were primarily installed from the late 1800s to the 1940s. No amount of lead is considered safe in a child’s blood . Congress banned the installation of lead water lines in 1986.