January 19, 2024 — With the Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement late last November of its proposal to strengthen its Lead and Copper Rule that would require water systems across the country to replace lead service lines within 10 years, communities are taking stock of materials used in their drinking water line inventories.

In Wyoming, the Office of State Lands and Investments (OSLI) and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) are working together to protect public health by helping Wyoming’s communities identify lead service lines in drinking water systems.

DEQ announced yesterday that they have contracted with HDR Inc. to provide free assistance throughout the state to inventory material types for community water systems. The effort is part of a nationwide initiative need to identify and generate an inventory of material types for water system’s drinking water service lines. These initial system inventories are required to be submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency by October 16, 2024.

“This is an important step to improving water quality for Wyoming citizens. The ultimate goal is to remove any lead service lines ensuring safe drinking water for our state,” said Todd Parfitt, Director of DEQ.

“HDR is looking forward to working with drinking water systems across Wyoming, and the staff at DEQ and OSLI, to help with this task and provide helpful resources to assist water systems complete this inventory,” added Heath Turbiville, Project Manager for HDR.

In its news release, DEQ lists phone numbers and emails where interested water systems can contact the project team.