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Mark Nixon :
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MDN@LBWL.COM
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BWL will speed up lead service line replacements
The Lansing Board of Water & Light will significantly step up the pace of a program to replace all lead service lines in its municipal water system, it was announced today.
The BWL will add one additional, four-person crew, and is purchasing equipment to outfit the crew. General Manager J. Peter Lark said the new crew and equipment will allow the utility to complete several hundred additional lead line replacements each year.
“Our 10-year commitment to replace every lead service line is already ahead of schedule. With this new crew in the field, we will throttle up the replacement schedule even further,” Lark said.
“When the replacement program began in 2005, we had approximately 13,000 lead service lines. Today, more than 5,200 of those lead lines have been replaced.
“By the summer of 2008, we will have reached a milestone, because we are on track to having replaced 50 percent of the original 13,000 lead service lines. I am proud we have surpassed our already aggressive timetable to replace all lead service lines. This additional crew ensures we will complete our mission well before 2015.”
Lark added: “Throughout the United States , lead services lines remain a public concern. The BWL believes in addressing this concern by replacing every lead service line with all reasonable speed.
“Satisfying our customers is our paramount interest. And, we are replacing all lead service lines voluntarily, not because of any federal or state mandate.”
The BWL's new crew and equipment are scheduled to be in the field by early June of 2008.
Note to members of the media: Beginning today, May 7, the BWL will replace 40 lead service lines in about one week – a new record for this utility's lead service replacement program.
These lines provide water service to homes along Pennsylvania Avenue south of Mt. Hope Avenue . Cooperation between the BWL and the City of Lansing has made it possible to have the lead service line replacements timed with the city's repaving of Pennsylvania Avenue . The intent is to minimize the disruption to residents and motorists.
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