Petition urges EPA emergency action for Syracuse drinking water, lead crisis
Families for Lead Freedom Now and other Syracuse advocacy groups filed a petition Monday urging the EPA to declare a state of emergency in Syracuse over its lead-contaminated drinking water. The petition cites flawed testing and is calling on federal intervention under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Lars Jendruschewitz | Senior Staff Photographer
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A community group representing Syracuse families impacted by lead poisoning is urging the United States Environmental Protection Agency to declare a state of emergency in the city.
Families for Lead Freedom Now and partnering organizations filed a legal petition Monday, requesting that the EPA use its emergency powers under the Safe Drinking Water Act to address Syracuse’s lead water crisis.
If enacted, the city would need to begin public education campaigns, install tap water filters and create a plan to remove lead hazards, with the most “lead-burdened communities” taking priority.
The New York Civil Liberties Union, Earthjustice, Legal Services of Central New York and Natural Resources Defense Council filed the petition jointly with FLFN.
“Despite a drumbeat of evidence that proves the gravity of Syracuse’s lead water crisis, our city and state officials have refused to take meaningful action to protect our community,” Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, NYCLU’s Racial Justice Center director, said in the release. “Their shameful inaction has put countless families and children at risk of irreparable harm.”
City and state officials haven’t taken action to protect the community, putting countless families and children at risk, Owens-Chaplin said. The petition alleges that the city has been aware of the issue since July 2024, after test results showed that 10% of tested houses exceeded the EPA’s federal action level for lead in drinking water of 15 parts per billion.
The city blamed the high levels on improper collection and testing in July 2024 and conducted new tests afterward, but a February 2025 report found that the new results were skewed to stay within the EPA’s lead regulations.
The report also found that more than 14,000 Syracuse homes receive water through lead service lines, putting residents at high risk for health effects from lead-tainted water. The city ordered new tests on July 7 and claims the results are within EPA regulations, while water experts argue the tests followed the same flawed process.
The city’s lead crisis is one of the worst in the country, according to the NRDC, with a disproportionate impact on Black residents. In 2021, more than 11.6% of Black children in Onondaga County were found to have elevated lead levels, compared to their white counterparts at 2%.
“Addressing our city’s lead crisis is both a public health and a racial justice imperative,” Owens-Chaplin said. “The health and future of our community are at stake, and the EPA must intervene and force Syracuse and New York State to address this crisis.”
