Governor Whitmer visited Benton Harbor Sunday to meet with homeowners and inspect the progress made on replacing the city’s lead service lines (LSLs). During the visit, Governor Whitmer announced that the campaign to accelerate replacement of aging lead water service lines is ahead of schedule with 80 percent of the lead lines in the city having now been replaced with new copper lines.
In a statement released by her office, Whitmer commented:
“Every Michigander deserves safe drinking water, I am committed to implementing a whole-of-government approach to solve the challenges facing Benton Harbor. We must complete these critical upgrades to lead service lines as quickly as possible to ensure families have access to safe drinking water. We will not rest until every parent feels confident to give their kid a glass of water knowing that it is safe.”
According to Benton Harbor and state officials, to date, more than 3,600 water service lines have been replaced or verified non-lead as of Wednesday morning, leaving less than 900 to complete. The crews have replaced more than 400 lead service lines with copper over the past 30 days and are currently averaging 15 lead service line replacements per day. Five contractors currently have seven crews working throughout the city. Progress on the project is updated daily on the Benton Harbor project dashboard.
Under current law, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy pro-actively ordered Benton Harbor to remove 7% of its Lead Service Lines in 12 months, beginning July 1, 2021. However, Whitmer says, her office worked with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to expedite the timeline with a goal of 100% replacement in 18 months (by March 2023).
The funding in the Building Michigan Together Plan signed by Governor Whitmer directs $45 million to the City of Benton Harbor for infrastructure improvements including replacement of all the city’s lead water service lines. The funding ensures the city will have resources to fully replace all lead service lines by the spring of 2023 , according to Whitmer’s office.
Investing in Water Infrastructure
Since taking office, Whitmer’s office estimates the state has invested more resources into water infrastructure than the previous 5 years combined.
The Building Michigan Together Plan includes nearly $2 billion to address critical water infrastructure needs. More than $1 billion for drinking water improvements, including:
· At least $325 million to replace lead service lines, including 100% of lead service lines in Benton Harbor.
· $55 million to help communities tackle toxic contaminants like PFAS.
· $43 million in assistance for small and disadvantaged communities.
Statistics supplied by the Governor’s office
