KSHB 41 reporter Fernanda Silva covers stories in the Northland. A Liberty neighbor reached out to her with concerns about a letter she received from the city regarding potential lead in water service lines. Fernanda also focuses on issues surrounding immigration. Share your story idea with Fernanda.
—
Liberty residents are concerned about water safety after more than 5,500 residents received letters from the city warning their water service lines may contain lead.
The letter states that water service line material at certain addresses is classified as "Unknown," which doesn't mean lead is confirmed or excluded.
"We're very unsure about whether our water's safe," Liberty resident Cindy Anderson said.
Anderson, who has lived in the area for four years, said the letter was surprising and concerning, especially since her grandchildren visit regularly.
"Very uncertain and I have grandkids that come here, so it's a little scary for them," Anderson said.
Andy Noll, utilities director for the City of Liberty, said the city sent letters to locations where officials are not absolutely certain of the service line material. According to Noll, about 40% of properties in the city received the notification.
The letters stem from a 2024 lead service line inventory that the city was required to complete.
During this inventory process, Liberty officials say they looked for structures built after 1989, knowing they could eliminate many homes from potential lead concerns since those newer constructions were less likely to have lead service lines.
However, according to Noll, this process still left approximately 5,500 homes classified as "unknown.”
"We don't believe there's very many of them that have any lead, but we can't meet the requirements to say they are not lead," Noll said.
Despite the uncertainty, Noll said he's not concerned about residents drinking water with lead.
"We have some lead service line connections, but with our water chemistry, I'm just not concerned that it's leaching into the system," Noll said.
According to the CDC, lead can seriously harm a child's health, including causing damage to the brain and nervous system.
Not all residents who received letters were alarmed. Christopher Lock, a plumber with a 5-month-old baby, said he wasn't bothered by the notification.
Lock explained that newer neighborhoods are less likely to have lead issues.
"You know, we've always filtered our water, but we didn't change anything when we found out," Lock said.
About 60% of Liberty properties didn't receive the letter.
Alexander Carmack, who didn't receive one, said he was reassured, but still concerned about potential exposure at restaurants and other locations.
"It's definitely dangerous if they are sending out letters about it," Carmack said.
Michelle Kerby suggested the city should offer more testing options for residents.
"It would just be nice if they would just start testing each neighborhood," Kerby said. "I have a lot of friends that live in the older part of Liberty and maybe they need to have their water checked."
The letter includes links to videos and articles to help residents identify their service line material, but some neighbors found them difficult to access.
"I don't really understand how to follow all of those," Anderson said.
City officials said residents can reach out for help with identification. The city hopes to have all service lines identified by 2027 and has up to 10 years to replace any lead lines found.
According to Noll, they must continue sending annual notifications to residents with unknown service line classifications until all lines are properly identified by the 2027 deadline.
The city says it is currently on a reduced lead testing schedule, testing every three years instead of annually, because it hasn't had issues with elevated lead readings at testing locations.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
—
