Madison O'Brien
WAND 17 Read the full article. SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) -The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded a total of $116 million to modernize water infrastructure in Illinois. The money will impact cities across the state, even in Springfield. Todd LaFountain, water division manager for City Water Light and Power (CWLP), said nearly $1 million was granted to the organization for lead service line replacement. "We anticipate replacing 150 service lines under the current program," LaFountain said. "We started 35 to 40 of those replacements, and we hope to wrap that up by July of 2021." According to LaFountain, lead pipes have been in Springfield for decades, and those pipes can eventually lead to contaminated drinking water. WNYC News
Karen Yi See the full article. Newark's schools are getting a $7.5 million federal grant to upgrade water infrastructure and eliminate lead from its drinking supply. Lead leaches into the water from old pipes and fixtures still present in many of the buildings that, on average, are 95 years old. Newark Schools Superintendent Roger Leon said the money from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "will undoubtedly move us from mitigating to eliminating." High levels of lead were first reported in the schools in 2016 and since then the district has spent millions of dollars rolling out testing programs and installing filters at water fountains and kitchen sinks. "We have installed lead reduction filters...on every drinking fountain and every potable water, the areas where they prepare food, so anyone drinking the water can be assured its safe," said Steven Morlino, director of facilities management for Newark schools. See the full article. ABC 57
Roxie Elliott See the original article. BENTON HARBOR, Mich.—The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday announced that it will award Benton Harbor with a $5.6 million grant to remove lead service lines. "Even the tragedy in Flint, only three hours from here, was not enough to get the federal government to act fast to ensure something like this would not happen again," said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. "That’s why I’m happy to announce the awarding of nearly $40 million in grants across the country through the WIIN Act." The grant will also be used to support a study to optimize the city’s lead corrosion control treatment. Grant funds will be used specifically to help replace as many residential lead service lines as possible. Service lines will be replaced with copper piping from the water main to the home’s service connection. Officials said at the announcement that the grant will provide clean, lead-free drinking water to city residents. "Old pipes will be replaced from the water main to the homes of service connection and include both private and public portions of the lead service line," said Wheeler. "Existing lead pipe posed a risk to residents and without this funding the homeowner would have to pay for the private portion of the service connection." Only 10 cities were chosen as recipients of the grant - in addition to Benton Harbor, Grand Rapids will also have lead pipes replaced. Contributions to this story also made by: Shannon Nolan WoodTv.com
See the full article. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A significant grant is coming to Grand Rapids to help make the city’s water safer. The Environmental Protection Agency is giving the city a $5.1 million grant to help replace lead service lines in 17 Grand Rapids neighborhoods considered to be disadvantaged. These areas have a concentration of lead pipes and have been known to mostly have old lead pipes between the main line and their homes. The grant’s goal is to help reduce how many homes have water flowing through those potentially dangerous pipes. “I strongly encourage residents and businesses to take advantage of the opportunity to have service lines replaced when approached to do so. Encourage residents to have plumbing inspected to you know if you have any other exposure,” said Bonnifer Ballard, executive director of the American Water Works Association-Michigan. Benton Harbor is also getting a $5.6 million grant. The nearly $40 million grant program is going to 10 cities. See the full article. Water Online
Pete Antoniewicz A white paper recently released by the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA) provides insights on how water utilities can better use data to manage uncertainty around remaining lead-service-line (LSL) customer connections. The document, Principles of Data Science for Lead Service Line Inventories and Replacement Programs, represents the organization’s commitment to making information accessible to assist state program administrators in protecting public health. It was developed for ASDWA by BlueConduit, a water-infrastructure analytics consulting company. Read the full article. 'We made it happen': Green Bay Water Utility replaces city's final lead pipe after years-long effort10/6/2020
Haley BeMiller, Green Bay Press-Gazette
See the full article. GREEN BAY - The Green Bay Water Utility on Tuesday removed its last lead pipe in the city, closing a chapter in a years-long effort to improve water quality for residents. Officials announced the milestone at a news conference Tuesday before removing an east-side lead service line and replacing it with a copper pipe. That marked the 1,782nd utility-owned line replaced since January 2016, when the utility ramped up lead removal amid the Flint, Michigan, water crisis. "Our (lead) levels are way down," said Nancy Quirk, the utility's general manager. Green Bay last installed lead pipes in 1944 and began replacing them in 1990, when the city had 4,400. In 2011, the water utility found levels in some homes were above limits set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and identified 1,782 utility-owned and 247 privately owned service lines that needed replacing. See the full article. |
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