OGDENSBURG — The city of Ogdensburg is slated to receive a $688,300 grant from New York State to replace lead water service lines.

According to a press release from the governor’s office, the funding is part of nearly $90 million in taxpayer dollars the state is redistributing among communities across New York to improve drinking water infrastructure.

The money is to be used to identify and replace lead service lines, the state said. Numerous St. Lawrence County municipalities are currently engaged in inventory projects of their service lines to meet an Oct. 15 deadline put forth by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The inventory is the first step in a mandated process to eventually remove all lead from municipal water infrastructure.

Lead is harmful to human health and can enter drinking water when plumbing materials that contain lead corrode, especially where the water has high acidity or low mineral content that corrodes pipes and fixtures, the press release said.

The most common sources of lead in drinking water are lead pipes, faucets, and fixtures. In homes with lead pipes that connect the home to the water main, also known as lead services lines, these pipes are typically the most significant source of lead in the water. Lead pipes are more likely to be found in older cities and homes built before 1986, said the state.

The state funding awarded is specifically targeted for historically disadvantaged communities, the governor’s office said. The awards prioritize communities that meet one or more of the following criteria:

• The community’s median household income is less than 80 percent of the regionally adjusted statewide median household income
• The community’s local poverty rate is higher than the statewide poverty rate
• At least 50 percent of the community’s lead service line project serves an environmental justice community.

Ogdensburg was the only municipality in St. Lawrence County to receive a grant.