Response to La Grande water pipe survey is higher than expected

LA GRANDE — A water survey currently being conducted by the city of La Grande is receiving a promising response.

“The reaction has been good. I thought we might get a few hundred answers. Instead, we have gotten about 600, which is more than 10%,” La Grande Public Works Director Kyle Carpenter said.

The surveys, which have a May 31 deadline, were mailed with water bills to about 5,000 La Grande homes and businesses on April 1. The survey is part of a nationwide Environmental Protection Agency program designed to help eliminate the presence of lead pipes in homes. The surveys ask for basic contact information; whether one lives in a home, apartment or duplex; and the type of service line water pipes they have.

Residents can mark PVC plastic, galvanized iron, lead, copper or not sure. Those marking not sure may later be visited by staff from the Union County Public Works Department to determine the type of water pipes, Carpenter said, adding excavation work could be done in some cases to make this determination but the chances of having to do this is very unlikely.

“We are hoping that we do not have to do this at all,” Carpenter said.

The piping the public works department is looking for can usually most easily be spotted in the basement of buildings and in crawl spaces. The surveys included photos and information helping residents identify what type of material their service line pipes are made of. They also contain information about how a scratch test can be conducted to determine what material the pipes are made of.

On the hunt for lead

Carpenter said the only buildings that could have lead service lines are those built before 1985, the year the installation of lead pipe was banned in the United States because of health hazards lead poses.

Once the deadline for submitting the surveys has passed, Carpenter said data from the surveys will be recorded. The La Grande Public Works Department will then randomly select additional homes to get data from.

The data collected will all be sent to the Oregon Health Authority.

None of the surveys received to date indicate that respondents have service line pipe made of lead. Carpenter does not expect that lead pipes will be found.

“We do not anticipate finding any lead in the system,” he said, adding that since 1985 the La Grande Public Works Department has worked to remove all lead service line pipe.