Chris Tolbert had to shell out $6,000 to replace lead-lined pipes connected to his St. Paul home.
A City Council member, Tolbert wanted safe water for his wife and growing family to drink. He was able to cover the hefty price tag, but he knows plenty of other people who can't.
"It's a prohibitive cost for a lot of St. Paul families, and for families across the state of Minnesota," he said.
The state Health Department estimates roughly 100,000 public and private service lines in Minnesota are lined with lead, potentially exposing people to contamination in their drinking water. Exposure to lead is dangerous at any level, according to national health organizations, but risks are higher for children, who can suffer from brain and nervous system damage.
Homeowners and municipalities have shouldered the expense of replacing those service lines, but a proposal moving at the Capitol would spend $240 million from the state's budget surplus to help them cover the costs.
"This is a great way for us to use the resources the state has right now," said Gov. Tim Walz, who also pitched the funding in his revised budget. He recently joined Tolbert, state legislators, construction unions and clean water groups outside a home in St. Paul that was getting its lead service lines replaced.
The group doing the work let Walz know that the Summit Avenue governor's residence about to be renovated currently has lead pipes too.
The funding would go toward helping the state's Public Facilities Authority tackle lead line replacement across the state by 2033. A majority of the funds would be used for removing privately owned portions of lead drinking water service lines, but municipalities can also get grants to replace publicly owned portions of lead service lines.
