Michigan must accelerate plans to replace lead pipes ⋆ Michigan Advance

Governor Gretchen Whitmer has one Executive Directive Monday calling on state authorities to prepare plans to swiftly replace lead pipes with an inflow of federal dollars from the new Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The Environment, Great Lakes and Energy Departments (EGLE); Treasury; and Technology, Management, and Budget (DTMB) must “evaluate strategies to control the cost of replacing lead service lines without sacrificing capacity” and work with the governor’s office and state lawmakers to develop plans for replacement Accelerate the aging infrastructure that has led to lead contamination of drinking water in places like Benton Harbor and Hammamcksaid Whitmer.

The governor’s order comes as Michigan is set to receive $ 10 billion from its comprehensive $ 1.2 trillion infrastructure bill signed in law from President Joe Biden last week. Approximately $ 1.3 billion of that $ 10 billion is expected to be used for lead service line removal. Lead is a toxic chemical that was previously used in paint and water pipes. exposure can lead to brain and kidney damage, behavior problems, and even death, along with a litany of other health problems.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer at Lansing Signing Law to Abolish the “Tampon Tax”, November 4, 2021 | Whitmer office photo

“Right now we have an incredible opportunity to put Michigander first by using the funds we’ll be given under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to make sure every community has safe drinking water,” said Whitmer in a press release on Monday.

Once Michigan receives the $ 10 billion from the federal government, state lawmakers will have to approve how that money will be spent. Michigan’s GOP-led legislature continues to sit on most of the additional $ 10 billion the state received in federal COVID-19 funding.

In Monday’s directive, Whitmer specified that “all government departments must work swiftly to ensure access to federal funding for lead replacement for communities disproportionately contaminated by lead in their drinking water and communities in need of financial or technical assistance, to ensure that the water infrastructure can be used ”. Dollar.”

While lead has been banned in paint and water pipes in the United States for decades, the toxic chemical’s legacy lives on – especially in paint communities like Benton Harbor, which according to have more lead pipes than white areas a report for 2020 from the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund of New York.

Michigans Lead and copper rule, a state ordinance updated in 2018 following the Flint water crisis, requires utilities to replace 5% of their leading service lines in the state each year, with the goal of roughly replacing Michigan’s total 500,000 lead pipes within 20 years. With the federal grant, Whitmer said the schedule can be sped up.

“With this executive directive, we’re accelerating the schedule to replace 100% of senior service lines in Michigan, prioritizing communities that are disproportionately affected, promoting improved interdepartmental collaboration, and ensuring projects are created by employees and businesses in Michigan Whitmer said in Monday’s press release. “I look forward to working with the legislature to put those dollars in and get the job done.”

According to Whitmer’s policy, in response to climate change, EGLE must “work with local communities and water suppliers to improve flood resilience”. And the state Department of Labor and Economic Opportunities must work with community colleges, trade associations and unions to “build capacity and train the skilled workers who will build the water infrastructure of Michigan’s future,” the policy says.

Clean water advocates and workers’ representatives supported Whitmer’s policy.

“We need to use this one-time infrastructure investment to replace lead lines, modernize drinking water and wastewater treatment plants, and eliminate PFAS contamination immediately,” said Liz Kirkwood, general manager of For Love of Water (FLOW). a Traverse City-based nonprofit advocating clean water in Michigan.

“The investment is critical to the public health and prosperity of families and communities and will support well-paying jobs that cannot be outsourced.”

Jeremy Garza of the Michigan Pipe Trades Association said in a press release that licensed plumbers “are on hand to help with the safe and proper installation and replacement of Michigan’s drinking water pipes.”

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