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A cloud of dust drifts behind a compact track loader as it slowly rolls down the street carrying dirt and asphalt from a giant hole about five feet wide. About eight feet below ground, a man in a hard hat is dislodging a 125-year-old corroded pipe that once connected a house on this street to the city’s main water line.
The crew is working house-by-house down this North Minneapolis block to replace lead pipes, abundant in this neighborhood where most homes were built over a century ago. They’re replacing them with copper piping, which will be free from the risks lead pipes can pose to water users, especially children: damage to the central nervous system, impaired hearing, blood cell damage and learning disabilities.
The service is free to residents, paid for by state and federal funding that every Minnesota municipality can benefit from (there are about 87,000 known lead lines throughout the state, and likely more that have not ...
