by John Dowd
In early November, Stevensville sent out “unknown service line material” notices to town residents. This was required by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). However, these notices were controversial, and several members of the public misunderstood them for notifications that the town has lead in its water. According to Stevensville Public Works Director Stephen Lassiter, “Every public water system in America received this letter.” He continued, saying that every municipality was required to reformat the letter with their own information and to forward it to the public. “There is no lead in Stevensville’s water,” said Lassiter.
All of this started when the EPA wanted to look at plumbing across America, chiefly inventorying service lines. Lassiter said there are still probably lead pipes in old town systems in the country and some resident homes may still have them. However, there are none known in Stevensville. “This letter alone in no way indicates we have lead in our water,” said Lassiter. “It is simply asking for an inventory of pipe materials to gauge the potential risk.”
The town has also received questions about funding regarding these issues. However, as Lassiter explained, they are unsure of what the funding would apply to in Stevensville’s case, as there is no lead in Stevensville pipes.
According to Lassiter, a lot of people in town that are worried do not even need to be. He said the EPA initiated a “lead and copper rule,” which was released in 1988. The rule defined the way homes could be plumbed. This stopped the use of lead pipes and forced the industry to stop utilizing lead solder. Lassiter added that this latter form of contamination was the most common way people might get exposed to lead. Every new home built after that would be in compliance and these owners can ease a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, for everyone else, Lassiter added that the town also already tests the water every three years. This is DEQ-mandated, and the testing looks for lead across Montana towns. This notice of “unknown service line material” came at a fortuitous time, as well. According to Lassiter, the town tested their water this year. In September, they took samples from 10 random houses, chosen specifically from older homes, built before 1988. All 10 tested “non-detect,” meaning there was no lead picked up by the tests.
In addition to those 10, eleven other concerned residents submitted samples for testing from their own homes, some built after 1988. They did this after the notice was sent out by the town. So far, all of those to come back have been “non-detect” as well.
The purpose of the DEQ/EPA notices was to help the EPA determine service line materials across the country. Prior to these notices, Lassiter said the town also sent out a letter in January 2023. That letter was sent to residents asking them to respond, in an attempt to identify the water line material that was used in their own homes. According to Lassiter, the town received “very little participation or feedback.” Of the thousand or so letters that were sent out asking about individual home lines, Lassiter said they received less than 50 responses. Lassiter added, when it comes to service lines in Stevensville, “our responsibility ends at the curb.”
Residents are encouraged to contact the town and identify the water line materials in their homes. To identify line material, the town recommends contacting a plumber or doing a quick search online. According to Lassiter, there are four main line materials a person may find their service lines made from. These are copper, PVC, lead or galvanized. The latter of these appears the most like lead, though it is visually less dull in color than lead, and can easily be differentiated. Copper pipes will obviously be copper or even greenish in color, while lead will often have white rust spots, or dulling over time. PVC is easily recognized as white in color with blue glue marks at the joints.
For questions on how to report service lines, residents can contact the town at (406) 777- 5271. If residents are concerned about one of their lines, they can request a water test kit from the town, at a $20 charge.