A renewed push to replace lead service lines in Detroit. The EPA announced new action steps this week that would require cities to replace all lead service lines within 10 years.
President Joe Biden's administration is also planning to invest $50 billion to help cities reach that goal.
Replacement is already underway in several neighborhoods. There are still about 80,000 lead service lines throughout the city, and work to replace them has been going on for years.
Officials say the Biden investment and plan is game-changing.
Under the new rule, drinking water would need to fall under the action level of 10 parts per billion for lead instead of 15 PPB. It also requires the cities to replace the lead service lines over the next 10 years.
"I know there will be some utilities that will struggle with the changes, but we’re not one of them. We’re already Doing most of the things that EPA is asking utilities to do," Gary Brown, from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, said.
Michigan has one of the strictest lead pipe laws in the country. It was put into place in the wake of the Flint Water Crisis. The law requires all lead service lines to be replaced over a 20-year span.
The lead service lines bring treated water from the public main to peoples' houses. The problem is when lead seeps from the water pipes, it can get into the drinking water supply.
Currently in the U.S., 9.2 million households are still connected to lead service lines and pipes, mainly in low-income communities and communities of color.
To help speed up the replacement process and reach the goal quicker, the Biden administration has made $80 million available, and that money has already made it to Detroit.
"It’s a game-changer. First of all, we have a level of poverty that will not allow homeowners to pay to have this done. These are private lines for the most part. So we’re going to do it at our costs," Brown said.
Right now, the city has about $100 million worth of contracts to replace the pipes and several neighborhoods are already seeing repairs being made.
