MILWAUKEE, Wis. – President Biden on Tuesday announced $2.6 billion in funding to replace all lead pipes in the United States. new EPA regulations New funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law would require lead pipes to be identified and replaced within 10 years.
The EPA estimates that 9 million U.S. homes still have lead pipes installed. Milwaukee, where Biden is making the announcement, has 65,000 lead pipes that the city says will cost an estimated $700 million to remove.
“We’re here today to finally address an issue in this country that should have been addressed a long time ago: the dangers lead pipes pose to our drinking water,” Biden said. “For too long, local communities have known how important it is to address this issue, but this issue has not been given the national priority they demand. I’m here today to tell you that we are finally insisting that this problem be resolved, and I am insisting that it be done. ”
The president said the initiative was focused on “equity” and that nearly half of the funds would go to disadvantaged communities that “have borne the brunt of lead pipe poisoning for far too long.”
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“Studies show…communities of color are being hit the hardest,” Biden said. “One study showed that black children were at least twice as likely to have elevated blood lead levels compared to children of other racial groups. We have an obligation to get it right.”
“Science has known for decades that there is no safe level of lead in drinking water,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan told reporters Monday.
The final rule strengthens lead testing requirements and requires a complete inventory of lead water pipes. The $2.6 billion is the Biden administration’s latest spending on lead pipes, part of the $50 billion in Infrastructure Act of 2021 for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.
Although legal challenges may arise, government officials believe the decision is within the EPA’s “statutory authority” and is based on solid legal grounds.
Biden’s visit comes amid successive visits to the battleground state of Wisconsin by Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Mr. Biden’s last visit was nearly a month ago, when he was in Westley, Wisconsin, to make an announcement about delivering electricity to rural America.
Biden’s political focus on Wisconsin reflects hopes that Democrats can flip the state they narrowly flipped in 2016 and hold on to in 2020.
Wisconsin is one of six states with lead levels in children’s blood more than double the national rate, according to a 2021 study published in JAMA Pediatrics.
Dr. Adam Blumenberg, an emergency physician and toxicology expert at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, says even low lead levels can cause mild intellectual disability in some children. .
“If you have a worrisome amount of lead in a child, you need to find out where it came from and remove the source of exposure. That’s always one of the most important things,” Blumenberg said. Masu.
Deanna Branch, a mother and lead poisoning awareness activist from Milwaukee, told CBS News that funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law is finally starting to be used to remove lead pipes in the community.
Blanch’s son, Aidan, suffered from lead poisoning while living in a home that had lead in the paint, windows, pipes and soil. Her son’s lead levels were so high that he had to leave home and enter a homeless shelter for almost three months while he searched for safe housing. Ms Blanche said the experience was frightening for her son and left him with health problems he would have to face for the rest of his life.
The Blanches now live in a house that is lead-free, but it still has lead pipes.
“When I first started advocating, there was a 50-year plan, which turned into a 40-year plan, and now we have a nine-year plan to remove all the lead pipes in Milwaukee,” Branch said. told CBS News. Lead pipes are being removed from Milwaukee, giving hope elsewhere as well. ”
More housing and more clinics are needed for Milwaukee’s communities to live in a lead-free and safe environment.
Branch said there is not enough safe housing in the community. Blanch said her old home where her son contracted lead poisoning was still being rented out just a few years ago. The Next Door pediatric clinic, where her son was first tested for lead positioning, has since closed, creating a health care disparity in the community. Blanche credits the clinic’s work for making her youngest daughter lead-free.
There is a sense of shame among parents whose children have suffered from lead poisoning, but Blanche wants to remove shame from the equation of seeking help.
“You want them to know it’s not your fault,” Branch says. “We are not receiving justice. Clean drinking water is a human right.”