{"id":3884,"date":"2022-07-20T10:08:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-20T14:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/weact.org\/updates\/buffalo-community-groups-join-map-project-to-find-and-replace-lead-water-pipes\/"},"modified":"2025-04-07T21:31:26","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T01:31:26","slug":"buffalo-community-groups-join-map-project-to-find-and-replace-lead-water-pipes","status":"publish","type":"update","link":"http:\/\/weact.org\/es\/updates\/buffalo-community-groups-join-map-project-to-find-and-replace-lead-water-pipes\/","title":{"rendered":"Buffalo Community Groups Join Map Project To Find and Replace Lead Water Pipes"},"template":"","class_list":["post-3884","update","type-update","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","update_type-press-release"],"acf":{"details":{"":null,"featured_image":5221,"update_type":[366],"focus_area":false,"authors":false,"abstract":""},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

Community advocates, the water utility, and mapping experts collaborate <\/strong>to document where Buffalo\u2019s lead pipes are located, as records are incomplete or inaccurate<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
\r\nJuly 20, 2022<\/strong>
\r\nContacts:
\r\nStephanie Simeon, Heart of the City Neighborhoods, s.simeon@hocn.org, 716-446-3863
\r\nDana Balter, Citizen Action NY, dbalter@citizenactionny.org, 315-876-1260
\r\nYuwa Vosper, WEACT,\u00a0 yuwa@weact.org, 212-961-1000
\r\nMargie Kelly, NRDC, mkelly@nrdc.org, 541-222-9699
\r\nDunrie Greiling, Blue Conduit, dunrie@blueconduit.com, 734-519-0675<\/p>\r\n

BUFFALO, NY<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Buffalo will be one of the first cities in the nation to deploy cutting-edge machine learning to solve a century-old problem: the location of an estimated 40,000 drinking water pipes made from toxic lead, most of them likely to be found in low-income communities of color. Today local community groups, mapping experts, and elected officials held a kick-off event to announce development of an online, interactive map that will allow Buffalo residents to learn the known or likely composition of their home water pipes.<\/p>\r\n

Buffalo, like most communities in the nation, does not have an accurate map of where lead water pipes are located. The community organizations anchoring the map work in Buffalo \u2013 Heart of the City Neighborhoods<\/a>, Open Buffalo<\/a>, and Citizen Action of New York<\/a> \u2013 are working in coalition with the national environmental organizations WE ACT for Environmental Justice<\/a> and NRDC<\/a> (Natural Resources Defense Council), with technical support provided by BlueConduit<\/a>, a water analytics company.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cBuffalo residents deserve safe drinking water, which is why we need to work quickly to remove every lead water pipe in the city, especially in neighborhoods of color that are likely to bear a disproportionate burden of contamination. By sharing information about where lead pipes are located in a transparent and accessible way, Buffalo\u2019s lead pipe map will help residents take the steps necessary to protect themselves and their families from lead exposure, including using water filters,\u201d said Stephanie Simeon, Executive Director of <\/strong>Heart of the City Neighborhoods<\/strong><\/a> and Buffalo resident<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n

Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown<\/strong> said, \u201cToday, we are excited to welcome WE ACT, NRDC and BlueConduit to join us as partners, along with Buffalo\u2019s own frontline organizations: Heart of the City, Open Buffalo, and Citizen Action, as we engage residents to better identify lead service lines in homes. My administration continues to invest millions through our Replace Old Lead Lines (ROLL) program and we remain steadfast in our commitment to safeguard children from being poisoned by lead.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cFlint opened our eyes to the devastating human costs of lead-contaminated water. I expect Buffalo\u2019s map will become a model for other environmental justice communities in New York State that want to get the lead out of their tap water to protect the well-being of children and families,\u201d said Rosemary Rivera of <\/strong>Citizen Action of New York<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cAs a mother of two young children, I\u2019m constantly worrying about their safety and well-being. We can\u2019t continue to steal the futures of our children by being slow to act. It is imperative to educate our community and empower residents. The lead crisis is something we have the power to mitigate but we must act collaboratively and swiftly,\u201d said Franchelle C.H. Parker, executive director of <\/strong>Open Buffalo<\/strong><\/a> and Buffalo resident<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n

The Buffalo Water Service Line map will be informed by maps created for communities in Flint, Michigan<\/a>, and Toledo, Ohio<\/a>. Those maps allow residents to find out the current pipe material at their homes, to find the available information about pipe inspections at their address, to link to the City\u2019s inspection permission form, and to access resources for steps they can take to protect themselves and their families if their homes have lead water lines.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cSafe drinking water is a basic human right. Lead in drinking water poses a serious risk to the people of Buffalo and communities nationwide,\u201d said Eric Schwartz, BlueConduit Co-Founder and associate professor of marketing at Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. <\/strong>\u201cBlueConduit is proud to provide the data science, analytics, and mapping technologies behind this effort via our software platform. Working collaboratively with this strong partnership \u2014 Buffalo community, Buffalo Water, WE ACT, NRDC and other project partners \u2014 gives us the reach and the power to get the lead out in Buffalo efficiently and equitably, prioritizing those most vulnerable and at risk.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Buffalo is the first city to join a new multi-city public-private partnership<\/a> to identify and replace lead water pipes, work made possible by a Google.org grant. This is a historic time for critical domestic infrastructure projects. The Biden Administration secured a landmark $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure package allocating $15 billion to remove lead pipes from communities nationwide, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is set to distribute about $50 billion in infrastructure funding for clean water\u2014the largest single U.S. investment in drinking water and wastewater systems. Two additional cities will join this pilot project at a future date.<\/p>\r\n

NOTE<\/strong>: To speak to Oluwole A. McFoy, P.E., General Manager of the Buffalo Sewer Authority<\/strong>, please contact LaToya Cunningham lcunningham@buffalosewer.org, (716) 851- 4664.<\/p>\r\n

RESOURCES<\/strong>:<\/p>\r\n