Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wants to spend $200 million in federal pandemic relief funding to replace lead water pipes across the state, where aging underground infrastructure was exposed by Flint’s disaster.
The plan, if approved by the Legislature, would set aside $20 million to replace all of the lines in Benton Harbor in five years.
The majority Black city in the state’s southwestern corner has been exceeding the federal lead limit since 2018.
That year, Michigan began enforcing the nation’s strictest rules for lead in drinking water in the wake of the crisis in Flint, another impoverished city with a majority Black population.
The regulations will result in replacing every lead service pipe statewide by 2041.
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