Demand Syracuse Finally Address Its Lead Water Crisis

Collage of faucet, water pipe dug up in ground

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The message:

There is an ongoing lead water crisis in Syracuse. The city has known about it since at least the summer of 2024, when extraordinarily high levels of lead were found in drinking water.

In 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a damning report confirming the extent of the crisis and detailing how the city has been violating federal lead safety laws and putting thousands of families, many of them Black and low-income, at risk.

The EPA also issued an order requiring the city of Syracuse to take steps to address the crisis – but Syracuse has yet to act. Local, state, and federal officials must put pressure on Syracuse to take action now so that residents finally have drinking water free from toxic lead.

Take action:

Tell elected officials to force Syracuse to follow the law and tackle the lead water crisis.

The recipients:

Governor Hochul
Syracuse Mayor Sharon F. Owens

The message:

There is an ongoing lead water crisis in Syracuse. The city has known about it since at least the summer of 2024, when extraordinarily high levels of lead were found in drinking water.

Take action:

Tell elected officials to force Syracuse to follow the law and tackle the lead water crisis.

The recipients:

Governor Hochul
Syracuse Mayor Sharon F. Owens

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Your Message

Subject Urge Syracuse to address its lead water crisis

Message

The quality of the water we drink should not depend on our skin color, zip code, or wealth. But in Syracuse, over 25 percent of households have extremely high levels of lead in their water, and in Onondaga county, Black children are almost six times as likely as white children to have elevated levels of lead in their blood.

Lead is a potent neurotoxin with no safe level of exposure, and children, with their developing brains, are especially at risk. Yet even following an order issued by the EPA under the Safe Water Drinking Act, city, state, and federal agencies have continually failed to take action to address a crisis that disproportionately impacts Black and low-income families.

The City of Syracuse must heed the EPA’s order and comply with federal and state health and environmental laws. I am asking you to demand:

• A state of emergency to fast-track the replacement of all lead service lines.

• An equitable replacement plan that prioritizes hardest-hit neighborhoods first.

• Public transparency: residents must have access to accurate, timely data about their drinking water quality.

• A distribution plan for point of use filters (which fit onto faucets), including filter replacements every six months, to all affected households until pipes are replaced and lead left behind is flushed out of homes.

Residents of Syracuse have a right to safe drinking water. We know exactly how to end this crisis, and I am counting on you to act.

Sincerely,

[First Name] [Last Name]

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Demand Syracuse Finally Address Its Lead Water Crisis

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