Many older homes around Indianapolis get their water through lead service pipes. Citizens Energy Group plans to replace them.
As many as 75,000 homes around Marion County still get their water through lead service lines. Most of those homes were built before 1950.
The work is being done at no cost to customers.
Citizens got approval for the project from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) in 2022.
The multi-year project is tackling several Indianapolis neighborhoods, with Martindale-Brightwood being the largest area.
“I feel like it’s a blessing,” said Onyette Hamiter, who lives in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood. “This is something that would cost $6,000 and above and nobody has that money just sitting around.”
Also, the project wouldn’t have been possible without Elizabeth Gore, who helped lead the Martindale-Brightwood Environmental Justice Collaborative.
She started asking questions more than a decade ago.
“We fought and asked questions,” Gore said. “When I turned onto the street, my heart was just overflowing with the idea that something is being done and that our community …