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Families for Lead Freedom Now is demanding Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh declare a state of emergency following a report by Safe Water Engineering LLC that found water sampling data across the city to be inaccurate and underestimate the impact of lead in the city.

The report found the Syracuse Water Department has recorded exceedances in drinking water lead levels during three consecutive testing periods. Following tests in 2023 that found 26.8 lead parts per billion — almost double the level requiring government action — subsequent findings reported significant decreases, with 15.8 ppb and 17.8 ppb respectively in two different testing periods in 2024.

Elin Betanzo, president of SWE and author of the report, alleged the city has either mismanaged or diluted results since Syracuse’s first reading in 2023. Betanzo, who was active in combating the Flint Water Crisis, said only 52% of the 265 buildings tested for lead in 2024 were registered as Tier 1 homes — family homes with a confirmed history of lead presence.

“This report confirms what Syracuse residents have feared,” FLFN Co-Chair Oceana Fair said. “The quality of our drinking water is indeed a cause for concern. The findings highlight four critical areas the city of Syracuse has minimized, misled, misrepresented and avoided addressing the issue right before them.”

Fair said many of the city’s remaining houses sampled in 2024 didn’t qualify as Tier 1, with some later found to contain pipes with no traces of lead. The Lead and Copper Rule requires all Tier 1 homes to be sampled within a 24-hours of discovering the contamination.

With almost half of the city’s most recent data excluding homes that showed record levels of lead less than two years ago, according to the report, Fair demanded city officials recognize the “diluted” 2024 samples as inaccurate.

“Testing non-Tier 1 homes provides a misleading picture of the lead contamination issue,” Fair said. “The gaps in information have thus far provided no reason for the community members to have confidence in assurances made by water utility officials.”

Even with the allegedly inaccurate results the city reported in 2024, both figures still remain over the 15 ppb threshold the EPA labels as requiring public water supplier action.

Maurice Brown, Onondaga County’s 15th district legislator, called on Walsh and city government to take initiative in accelerating the removal of lead pipes in the city. He said it’s the responsibility of Syracuse officials — not the county or state — to lead the charge.

Brown also encouraged the city to prioritize re-testing buildings that have been confirmed as contaminated. He said it would require more specific qualifications, such as distinguishing businesses from residential locations, to ensure efficiency and accuracy when addressing the issue.

“We shouldn’t, as the county, come in and say, ‘City of Syracuse, you guys have been messing up, here’s how we do it,’” Brown said. “The city of Syracuse needs to take the lead and say, ‘Onondaga County, here’s how you can help.’ And we need to be willing partners in that.”

Joe Zhao | Design Editor

Lanessa Owens-Chaplin of the New York Civil Liberties Union said that when recent rounds of testing began in 2018, city officials claimed lead complications were from old paint in homes, dust from the highways and environmental conditions. Owens-Chaplin claimed the city had only alerted the public of contamination in tap water in the past two years, while Fair called the city’s testing and publicity “gross negligence.”

“There is a pattern in practice of trying to cover up how detrimental lead is in water,” Owens-Chaplin said. “Our children are lead poisoned.”

FLFN said an official state of emergency would allow the city to access emergency state and federal funding to accelerate the replacement of corroding pipes across the city, Fair said. She claimed without the funding, it could take the city up to a decade to make the necessary changes. In that time, many families would suffer without an accelerated plan.

The City of Syracuse states on the official website for its Lead Service Replacement Strategy that it is responding “comprehensively and transparently” to the EPA’s lead and copper requirements. According to the website, Onondaga County Health Commissioner Dr. Kathryn Anderson confirmed the city’s water supply as free of lead in October. The website also states that the city issued a public notice about lead services lines to residents in August.

City officials plan to install 3,000 lines in the coming year and will also replace roughly 2,700 privately owned lead contaminated home systems, according to the city’s website. Homes are chosen based on an equity score model calculated by the city. The city is scheduled to replace over 14,000 units by the end of the decade.

Above all other demographics, Black children have been most affected by the lead crisis in Syracuse, FLFN co-chair Darlene Medley said. In March 2024, New York Attorney General Letita James reported that 11% of Black children tested in Onondaga County had heightened lead blood levels. 90% of these children were Syracuse residents.

According to the World Health Organization, lead poisoning is most dangerous to children as the toxin accumulates in the body and degrades the central nervous system. While some people with lead poisoning die from complications as children, survivors may develop permanent intellectual disabilities and physiological disorders.

To prevent complications, Medley said it’s the city’s responsibility to educate citizens who are at risk about proper filtration and the long-term effects of lead exposure. A state of emergency would provide the city with funding for these programs, Fair said.

In 2022, Onondaga County allocated $150,000 for the “Lead It Go” program to provide funding to families in affected areas with information and an “educational baseline,” Fair said. Syracuse.com reported the program would also provide services and testing for children in affected areas. Three years later, Fair claimed, the county is yet to release the funds.

According to its website, Onondaga County’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Program offers lead testing for children, lead-based paint identification and repairs, education and access to grants and loan programs.

“We’ve seen evidence of manipulated procedures that prioritize optics over public health,” Brown said. “That is unacceptable.”

The mayor’s office was unavailable for comment on the report Wednesday.

Syracuse’s City Common Council’s Public Works Committee is set to hold a meeting on Tuesday at 10 a.m. to discuss the Lead Service Replacement Project.

Published on February 13, 2025 at 12:43 am

Contact Duncan: digreen@syr.edu