Toxic lead telephone lines: Searching for solutions

Millions of Americans could be affected by thousands of miles of toxic telephone cables. These old cables, legacies from the pre-internet, dial-up telephone era, are sheathed in lead, an element found to be toxic in humans. The report tumbled telephone company stocks to record lows and started a debate about both the science and what to do about these cables, some of which date back over half a century. We are both former officials of the Federal Communications Commission. In our time at the FCC and other telecommunications-related activities, neither of us ever heard concerns about lead sheathing, other than as a workplace safety issue. As former regulators, however, we recognize the challenges created by this development, the need for timely guidance to consumers and companies, and the potentially overlapping jurisdiction of federal agencies. Cost estimates to remediate the problem for the entire industry are settling in at between $4 and $20 billion. To put that number in perspective, the total capital expenditures of Verizon and AT&T were each around $20 billion in 2022. Ultimately, the federal government will have to resolve the complex scientific and legal issues of toxic telephone cables, the prioritization of remediation, and how it is paid for. To do this, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), FCC, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) should form a joint task force to investigate the issue and prioritize sites for lead cable removal.

[Tome Wheeler is a former chairman of the FCC. Blair Levin serves as a policy analyst with New Street Research—an equity research firm focused on telecommunications and technology—and is a former FCC chief of staff.]