Seawater & Sewer Board Meeting: Lead Service Line Replacement Update (Dec 17, 2025)
Sewage and Water Board Meeting: Lead Service Line Replacement Update
On December 17, 2025, the Sewage and Water Board convened for an informational meeting regarding the Lead Service Line Replacement (LCRI) program due to a lack of initial quorum. The meeting focused on the status of federal funding, the procedural necessity of re-bidding a project management contract, and public health mitigation strategies while awaiting full program deployment.
Consent Calendar
- Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned after a motion to approve minutes from the previous 2025 meeting was moved by Councilmember Green and seconded by the Chair.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Councilmember Harris expressed concern that the community faces a choice between purchasing expensive Brita filters and feeding children, urging the Board to design a plan for providing replacement filters every six months at no cost to residents waiting for line replacements. She also questioned the financial liability of residents who must run water to clear lines before drinking, asking if they would be billed for this necessary safety measure.
- Councilmember Green emphasized the historical context of lead poisoning in New Orleans, noting that the issue affects student growth and community development. He expressed that the current timeline delays are critical given the history of environmental injustices in the city, specifically in Central City and the district represented by Councilmember Harris.
- Councilmember King (acting as Chair/interim) reiterated that the issue is not merely about contract awards but about the profound impact of lead poisoning on the community over the last 40 to 60 years. He urged the Board to ensure protections for elders and those unable to afford costs.
- Randy Heyman (Executive Director) stated that the Board is dedicated to the community and the health of residents, acknowledging the urgency of the situation while explaining the legal constraints they face.
Discussion Items
- Randy Heyman explained that lead service lines are required to be removed by 2037 at an estimated cost of $1 billion for Orleans Parish. The program has secured $86 million in SRF loans, with an additional $66 million anticipated in Q1 2026.
- Procurement Delay: Mr. Heyman detailed that the contract for a Project Management Firm was awarded in May 2025 but was subsequently rejected after a bid protest. He confirmed that the final decision to re-issue the procurement was distributed on December 9, 2025.
- Reason for Re-bid: Mr. Heyman explained that the initial award was flawed because the selection committee did not follow the RFP's mandatory requirement to include five members, one of whom had to be an expert in health chosen by the Executive Director. He stated that proceeding without correcting this deviation would jeopardize federal reimbursement.
- Timeline Revision: Due to the re-bid and the requirement to incorporate responses to hundreds of questions from the protest, the contract was re-advertised in Q1 2026. The Executive Director noted they are optimizing the timeline to aim for an award in Q3 2026, cutting five months off the standard process.
- Replacement Criteria and Reimbursement: The Board clarified that to receive federal reimbursement, both the public side and the private side of the service line must be lead-free. Currently, the Board lacks a legal mechanism to replace private lead lines at no cost to the customer; they are pursuing a legal path forward to enable this.
- Mitigation Measures: While the program contracts are on hold, the Board continues to install filters (NSF 53 standard) for residents with known lead or unknown service lines. They also prioritize inspections and replacements in schools and early learning centers.
- Coordination: Discussions included the coordination of lead line replacements with JIRR (Street Improvement) projects to prevent double-cutting streets, though Councilmember Harris noted historical instances of streets being repaved and subsequently cut again.
Key Outcomes
- Contract Status: The Project Management Firm contract will be re-advertised in Q1 2026 following a protest-driven cancellation of the previous award.
- Financial Position: $86 million in SRF loans is secured; $66 million is anticipated by Q1 2026. Reimbursement is contingent on both public and private service lines being lead-free.
- Directives: Councilmember Harris urged the Board to develop a strategy for providing replacement filters every six months to low-income residents, which the Executive Director agreed to consider as funding allows.
- Action Items: The Executive Director directed staff to "sharpen the pencils" and apply pressure on consultants to further expedite the RFP process.
- Commitment: The Board reaffirmed its commitment to protecting public health and stated that the issue remains vital and urgent despite the procedural delays.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to today's uh public works uh meeting. We're gonna give it a minute uh to see if we can get a quorum. If not, we'll start the meeting as an informational meeting so that we can respect uh everyone's time. Uh happy Wednesday, everybody. We'll get started in a minute. Yeah, let's yeah, the call roll call, please. Thank you, Councilmember. We'll call. Councilmember Thomas. Present. Councilmember Jerry South. Councilmember Harris. Councilmember King. Councilmember Green. We have two members. We do not have a quorum. We don't have a quorum, so we can't approve the minutes. And I don't think there's anything official to uh uh to vote on, but if we could have uh our uh surgeon waterboard director uh come and start his presentation, we'll get right into the meeting. Introduce yourselves and who's at the uh table with you, and we'll get started. When you're ready. Okay, good morning. I'm Randy Heyman, executive director of the Sewage and Water Board. I have with me today Gray Lewis, Chief Financial Officer, and Becky Becca Johnsey, Deputy Superintendent of Water Programs. I appreciate having the opportunity today to come to speak with you about the lead service line replacement program. Next slide. Yes. As you know, EPA's lead and copper rule improvements were published in January 2024 with a compliance start date of 2027. As part of our stakeholder outreach, the lead service line replacement program was presented to the public works committee in October 2024 to increase awareness around this important issue. For the LCRI, all lead service lines are required to be removed by 2037. This equates to a cost of approximately 1 billion dollars to replace all lead service lines in Arleens Paris. Uh, this effort is mostly unfunded. SWIPNO has secured 86 million dollars in SRF loans, and we anticipate closing on another 66 million SRF loans in Q1 of 2026. The requirement of the funding is that the public and private side must be lead-free to be reimbursed. LCRI requires publication of LSL inventory and annual notification to homeowners with lead galvanized and unknown service line. Customers received notification letters in 2024 and 25. This year we prioritized a contract for service line inspections and replacements geared toward protecting our most risk residents at New Orleans schools and early learning centers. And in the diagram we have here. However, particles from lead pipes and plumbing fixtures can leach into the water as it travels from the treatment plant to the taps. The public service line runs from the water main to the property line, and the private service line runs from the property line to the point of entry of the residents. The water service lines are typically composed of copper, plastic, galvanized steel, lead, and they are classified as unknown if we do not have a definite definitive record showing the material type. The lead materials, the lead service line inventory is governed by lead and copper rule improvements for the EPA. Next, you have our public interactive inventory map. SWIPNO published an interactive inventory map in October 2024, where customers can look up their address and view their public utility and private customer side service line. It's important to understand there are two sides to the line. First part of is the public side, and then the second part is the private side, which the homeowner is responsible for at this time. For our inventory, Swimot has 75% unknowns. A service line is classified as unknown when we do not have a definitive record showing the customer's material type. Regulations state that unknowns must be treated as lead service lines until verified otherwise. This map also incorporates predictive modeling performed by Blue Conduit that shows the likelihood of service lines being lead or non-lead.
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