The Warren community is working to 'Get the Lead Out.'

It's an initiative created by the U.S. EPA, focused on removing unsafe lead pipes around the country.  This comes as the city could receive hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund pipe replacement and make drinking water safer for all.

Lead pipes are not uncommon around the area, Warren potentially has up to 2,000 service lines needing to be replaced.

"Helping communities identify their lead service lines," explained Wendi Wilkes with the U.S. EPA. "Replace the lead pipes when they find them and make sure they get connected to the historic amount of funding we have available right now for lead service line replacement."

U.S. EPA officials joined Warren's Water Department to discuss the negative effects of lead service lines, as the city aims to remove any lead pipe deemed dangerous. Through regular PH treatment and testing, the city does not believe any drinking water is unsafe presently in Warren.

"The only way we can 100% guarantee that we can be 100% safe is to get 100% of the lead lines out," explained Marco Lucarelli, Director of Utilities with the City of Warren.

President Biden's 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law dedicates more than $15 billion to removing and replacing lead service lines and dollars could be applied in Warren.

"The U.S. EPA has hired contractors to help communities like Warren complete their service line inventory," Wilkes explained. "So that includes, 'Where are the lead pipes?' 'When we start replacing them?' 'Who's going to get replaced first?' 'What's the cost estimate?' "So we have engineers and specialists who are helping communities like Warren identify all of those factors."

The City of Warren has been working on drafting plans to replace all of its old water lines throughout the city. Along with replacing the main lines, the city has been making separate plans to get rid of all of the lead services lines. That project is expected to be funded by a $1 million loan from the EPA.

The community is now encouraged to fill out a crucial survey that goes to the EPA, helping the city establish its removal plan and locate funding.

"We have a template in place with the EPA already on how we will be moving forward with a projected plan and how we're going to access the neighborhoods that we're going to attack first and start eliminating these service lines one by one," Lucarelli added.

The US EPA is also assisting with community engagement and lead pipe replacement plans, along with state revolving fund applications.

The water department previously mailed every Warren resident to try and finalize the number of lead lines that they will need to replace. That number must be reported to the EPA by October 2024.

Click here for more information on how you can take the survey yourself.