EPA Orders Repairs at Water Plant in Michigan City With High Levels of Lead | Columbus Ohio Dump Trucks
Benton Harbor recently awarded a contract to replace lead service pipes after it was awarded a $5.6-million EPA grant.
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Federal regulators issued an order directing a Michigan city with high levels of lead in its tap water to make filter repairs at its water treatment plant and take other action after an inspection revealed broken columbus oh dump truck equipment and other “areas of concern.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued the order under the Safe Drinking Water Act to Benton Harbor, Mich. on Nov. 2 following an inspection in September. The order sets out the process for the city’s water system to achieve compliance protecting its residents from lead exposure.
The water plant was built in the 1950s and renovated in 2012. The EPA order requires the plant filter repairs to start within 15 days.
City officials didn’t immediately respond to inquiries from ENR after normal business hours.
Benton Harbor’s lead pipes are not a new problem. The city, with a population of about 9,800 near southern Lake Michigan, says some of the water pipes are 120 years old. It banned the installation of new lead service lines in 1988. The state has been providing free bottled water for residents to drink.
The EPA previously awarded a $5.56-million Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act grant to the city to replace lead service lines, and the city recently signed a contract with Meeks Contracting for the work. Line replacement is scheduled to start on Nov. 8 and expected to complete by April 2022.
So far, 160 lead water service lines have been replaced, the city says. There are still more than 2,200 utility-owned lead lines and 2,300 customer-owned lines to be replaced.
“Exposure to lead in children can cause irreversible and life-long health effects, including decreasing IQ, focus and academic achievement,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. “The water infrastructure in Benton Harbor, like many cities across the country, needs upgrades and investments to build resiliency and protect people from lead.”
In addition to the water plant filter repairs, the EPA order requires the city to better warn residents about lead levels in water, improve the application of chemicals like chlorine for disinfection and orthophosphate for corrosion control, improve monitoring for residual disinfectants and use an independent third-party to study long-term system operation and maintenance alternatives.
Cyndi Roper, Michigan senior policy advocate for the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environment-focused nonprofit that has joined other groups in petitioning the EPA to tackle Benton Harbor’s water problems, said in a statement that “decades of disinvestment” have left the city with its inadequate water system.
“The EPA’s order is exactly what is needed to begin addressing Benton Harbor’s long-term water problems; high lead levels are at the top of a very long list of violations that need immediate attention,” Roper said.