To the Editor:

Should every property owner in the village of Potsdam sign up for easy, quick and free testing for lead in their water supply line? Yes. Why? Because (1) it will protect every water user from lead poisoning; (2) it's easy, quick and, currently, free of charge; (3) both the federal and NY State governments mandate the testing; and (4) if not done now with the convenient, modern and patented Electro-Scan endoscope-type technology, future tests will be done manually, by digging trenches to examine, visually, the character of the water piping.  

"Can I decline to have this test done?" Yes and no. Yes, you can disallow entry to your dwelling to Electro-Scan technicians, and as a result your property's water lateral-pipe composition will be marked "unknown". But this "opt out" will transfer responsibility for determining the composition of your property's service lateral to the village administration.  During a lively NYCOM meeting last year, I learned that in that case, each municipality will have to execute a temporary easement onto any property with the "unknown" designation in order to then dig a trench to examine the makeup of the lateral piping.  After the inspection, the trench would be refilled and the easement expires. The cost to the village to execute easements, and to dig, inspect pipelines and refill trenches, is unknown, but will involve village taxes.   

Everyone's lateral piping will have to be inspected in the coming months and years, whether for free, using the less invasive Electro-Scan technology now or by digging trenches in future.  I encourage everyone who owns a parcel in the village to go to www.electroscan.com/Potsdam or to call 315-856-3156 to schedule an appointment with Electro-Scan technicians for a time most convenient for you. As an added bonus, should any component of your water supply system, like valves, be too outdated to safely execute the inspection, a plumber as well as the village DPW crew will be present to replace those as necessary, for free. 

Monique Tirion
Village Trustee

Potsdam