Mayor John Laesch honored Congresswoman Lauren Underwood and Congressman Bill Foster at the Committee of the Whole meeting on May 6 for securing nearly $1.1 million in federal funding to support Aurora’s efforts to remove and replace lead service water lines.
The funding, totaling $1,092,000 as part of the Lead-Free Water Project, will be used to replace an estimated 120 lead service lines in Aurora. This project is expected to impact nearly 400 residents. Since 2018, Aurora has replaced 3,290 lead service lines across the community and plans further replacements in coming years.
“This is a high priority for our administration,” Mayor John Laesch said. “We are very grateful for this support, and it will help us continue to make great progress on our lead service line replacement program.”
Currently, the city replaces three percent of its lead service lines annually in accordance with Illinois Environmental Protection Agency requirements. The additional federal funds are intended to boost this effort and improve water quality for affected residents.
“Congressman Foster and I have been working on this project together for well over a year now,” Congresswoman Lauren Underwood said. “As a nurse, I know that helping to leverage these federal dollars to get rid of these lead water pipes is important to making sure that we have clean, healthy, and safe drinking water. So, we’re really excited to be able to contribute to replacing these pipes.”
“The biggest thing that we can do, which Lauren and I have been working on, is to get all the money necessary to eliminate any danger and get the lead out of the pipes,” Congressman Foster added. “We are going to be back at this, every chance we get.”
More information about Aurora’s lead service line replacement program can be found at the City of Aurora.
