Port Arthur receives grant to begin process of removing lead pipes from water system
Published 2:52 pm Tuesday, April 22, 2025
- Councilmember Willie Lewis Jr. speaks at the city council meeting about lead in the pipes and his personal experience with family members dealing with health side effects of lead. (screenshot, Port Arthur City Council)
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The city of Port Arthur has received $4.8 million in assistance funding from the State to begin the process of surveying and removing any lead pipes from the city’s water delivery system.
The funds come from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which began to make funding available after a 2023 study revealed 7% of the state’s total water lines contained lead-based water lines. The money comes after an EPA mandate as part of the Clean Water Act.
Port Arthur is currently in compliance with the Clean Water Act, but still needs to check how many pipes in the city may have lead in them.
“The water that we produce at the water plant is lead-free,” said Councilmember Willie Lewis Jr. “It’s lead-free, but then we will go down the line and what we will do is check the tap water that’s coming into the sink, ‘lead’. We have a history of this city producing lead-free water and when it gets to the sink, it’s not lead-free and I’m glad that this program has come along so we can get this taken care of.”
The EPA states that lead in drinking water can have adverse effects on a person’s health and young children are particularly vulnerable to lead. Even low levels of lead can lead to a variety of health issues for young children including learning problems and slowed growth.
“I kinda look at this program as a blood pressure problem, many times when we got blood pressure problems, we don’t even know we have blood pressure problems, it’s been called that silent killer,” said Councilmember Donald Frank. “ This is important for us to work towards fixing the infrastructure for our city because it goes undetected.”
The complete removal and replacement of lead pipes in Port Arthur will still take years to begin and complete, along with further investment from the city. The city is obligated to replace any and all lead pipes that lead up to a resident’s house, but residents are still responsible for all pipes inside a person’s residence. Commercial water systems will also be replaced as part of this program.
