The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is giving Michigan more than $61 million to continue lead pipe replacement projects across the state.
$3 billion dollars have been allocated nationwide through the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to keep lead out of drinking water.
Based on preliminary data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the state has more than 330,000 service lines that are likely to contain lead.
“We are playing catch up with many decades of deferred maintenance on drinking water systems and particularly in removing these hazardous lead lines,” said Hugh McDiarmid, spokesperson the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.
“But we're making a lot of progress,” he added.
According to the announcement last Thursday, the federal funding will go into Michigan’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, a low-interest loan program set up for drinking water infrastructure improvements in the state. Tribal communities and nonprofit organizations are also eligible to apply for the funds.
“At the end of the day we try to allocate some money to where the need is greatest and to the communities that fit the criteria for it,” said McDiarmid.
According to recent data from the EPA, Michigan needs more than $16 billion to replace all remaining lead service lines.
“The science is clear, there is no safe level of lead exposure, and the primary source of harmful exposure in drinking water is through lead pipes,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan in a statement.
Michigan’s lead action level for drinking water is 15 parts per billion (ppb). Starting in 2025, the state will lower that threshold to 12 ppb.
Under the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act, a municipality is required to take additional actions to improve its drinking water infrastructure when 10% of tested samples have exceeded the lead action level.
