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Sarnia & Lambton County This Week
Tyler Kula Read the full article. Another 50 or so property owners with lead service lines, leaching the cumulative toxicant into their drinking water, are in line for the next city tender to have those lines removed and replaced, says Sarnia’s operations and engineering general manager. “We continue to encourage property owners to reach out and get on the list,” David Jackson said. Sarnia announced last July it was covering the cost of lead-line replacements for homeowners, as well as those extending into public right-of-ways, over two to three years in a bid to try to make the city’s water lead-free. WNEM
Stephen Borowy Read the full article. WASHINGTON (WNEM) - Congressman Dan Kildee introduced new legislation that would help more communities remove lead service lines. The Financing Lead Out of Water (FLOW) Act would allow bonds that are issued by public water utilities to finance the removal of private lead service lines to bypass the IRS’ private business use test. By removing this barrier, as Kildee states, the tax code will help more communities access low-cost financing for lead service line replacement and comply with federal drinking water standards. Scientific American
Aaron Martin Read the full article. BENTON HARBOR, Mich.—This is a city in crisis. “You can’t drink the water. You can’t brush your teeth with the water. You can’t cook with the water.... You can’t make baby formula with the water,” says Reverend Edward Pinkney, president of the Benton Harbor Community Water Council. The community’s water is not safe to drink because it contains potentially toxic amounts of lead. Citizens must rely on bottled water for their daily needs. Residents of Benton Harbor complained for years about the safety of the water, but few actions were taken. In September 2021 the Benton Harbor Community Water Council and others filed a petition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calling for it to secure a source of safe drinking water for the community. The petition also calls for the replacement of the lead service lines running into the city’s homes. WANE
Shwetha Sundarrajan Read the full article. VAN WERT, Ohio (WANE)– Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced his strategy this week to invest $4 million in finding, removing, and replacing dangerous lead pipes in communities around the state. The H2Ohio Lead Service Line Repair Grant Program will give roughly $2 million to six towns with lead pipes that have been mapped and are ready for replacement. Nearly 500 lead service lines will be removed and replaced in these neighborhoods. The remaining $2 million in grant money will be provided to assist public water systems who lack the financial resources to adequately assess where their lead service lines are located in identifying, inventorying, and mapping lead service lines. This funding comprises $1.4 million in mini-grants of up to $50,000 for individual public water systems and $600,000 for the Rural Community Assistance Program (RCAP) and the Ohio Rural Water Association (ORWA) to help small public water systems with direct identification and mapping. WJOL
Read the full article. The Illinois EPA is providing funding for three cities to replace lead service lines. The City of Joliet is receiving nearly four-million-dollars, Elgin is also getting four-million and the city of Canton is set to receive almost one-point-eight-million. Each city will be replacing hundreds of lead service lines. WBBM
Brandon Ison Read the full article. A North Suburban town moves a few million dollars closer to replacing their lead pipe water lines. Elgin has over 13,000 lead water pipelines that need to be replaced. The total cost of the project Mayor Dave Kaptain tells the Elgin Courier News is $135 million. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has now pitched in $4 million to help cover the cost. While the funding is in the form of a low interest loan, Elgin may be eligible to receive principal forgiveness of that loan. The Herald-Palladium
Louise Wrege Read the full article. BENTON HARBOR — Benton Harbor residents now have another way to provide city workers permission to replace lead water service lines on private property – at no cost to them. An online right-of-entry form and electronic signature are now available, according to a news release from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. The form gives workers temporary access to the property to excavate, investigate and replace non-copper water services from the property line to 18 inches inside the home. Fox Illinois
Jordan Elder Read the full article. SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WICS/WRSP) — The city of Springfield got $1 million in federal pandemic funds to help identify if your water lines contain lead. It's part of an ongoing effort to modernize the city's water pipes. Replacing all the lead pipes in Springfield is expected to take many years and cost upwards of $55 million. That federal money, which comes from the American Rescue Plan, will help the city determine which pipes to dig up. AP News
Michael Phillis Read the full article. ST. LOUIS (AP) — The filters distributed in Benton Harbor, Michigan during the city’s recent lead water crisis worked properly, according to a study state officials said was conducted to give residents assurance. Michigan officials said the study was done “out of an abundance of caution” after residents and advocates in Benton Harbor slammed the state’s slow response to the city’s lead problem and requested more aggressive actions — including a study of the filters. “We found that properly operated filters were successful in reducing lead considerably and consistently,” said Tera Fong, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s water division director for the region that includes Michigan. WXYZ
Elizabeth Washington Read the full article. LANSING, Mich. (WXYZ) — Michigan is awarding nine cities and villages Drinking Water Asset Management grants to help reduce the risk of lead in drinking water. The state's press release states that the grants total comes out to $3.5 million, and the money is to be used to help ensure safe, clean tap water for residents. The grants will be used to enhance water affordability plans and replace lead service water lines. |
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April 2023
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