Benton Harbor, Mich., Relying on bottled water due to high lead levels: NPR

A water break on Wednesday left most residents of Benton Harbor, Mich., Without water as the city continues to deal with lead pipe quality issues.

Don Campbell / The Herald-Palladium via AP

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Don Campbell / The Herald-Palladium via AP

A water break on Wednesday left most residents of Benton Harbor, Mich., Without water as the city continues to deal with lead pipe quality issues.

Don Campbell / The Herald-Palladium via AP

State officials on Thursday defended their response to a lead crisis in a small town in southwestern Michigan and told lawmakers that steps to reduce corrosion in aging water pipes began in 2019, just a few months after tests revealed worrying results.

Benton Harbor residents will be encouraged to use free bottled water for drinking and cooking for several weeks until a federal study confirms that filters can work effectively with the city’s tap water, said Liesl Clark, head of Michigan’s environmental agency.

But Clark said the ultimate remedy is replacing about 6,000 old water pipes in the home, a job that could take nearly two years. Nearly $ 19 million in state and federal money has been set aside, but the goal is $ 30 million.

“High lead testing in Benton Harbor homes is due to the water collecting lead as it moves to the taps … The situation in Benton Harbor is urgent and unforgivable,” Clark said.

Her remarks to the House Oversight Committee came as Benton Harbor was dealing with yet another waterway: A pipe rupture Wednesday cut off water to virtually the entire community. Mayor Marcus Muhammad told lawmakers he only had a “bird bath” before driving to Lansing.

Benton Harbor is a predominantly black, mostly low-income community of 9,700 people, about 160 miles from Chicago. Residents have been urged to use bottled water due to elevated levels of lead, although bathing and washing clothes with tap water is OK.

Volunteers share bottled water for residents Thursday at Benton Harbor High School.

Don Campbell / The Herald-Palladium via AP

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Don Campbell / The Herald-Palladium via AP

Volunteers share bottled water for residents Thursday at Benton Harbor High School.

Don Campbell / The Herald-Palladium via AP

Eric Oswald, head of Michigan’s drinking water department, said anti-corrosion chemicals inside old pipes were first injected into Benton Harbor’s system in 2019, followed by higher doses in 2020.

“It has shown some improvement,” Oswald said. “These systems take a long time. … When you do not have corrosion control in your drinking water, you have no coating on the pipes.”

He said the Ministry of the Environment, Great Lakes and Energy have been working “far more aggressively than the law prescribes.”

Committee Chairman, Republican Rep. Steven Johnson, said he was not trying to turn Benton Harbor into a “flint water crisis” for Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. But he repeatedly wondered why the city seemed to get so much attention on the latest from her administration.

Oswald said bottled water has been pushed hard because of questions about the effectiveness of faucet filters in Newark, New Jersey.

“Before we go back and say the filters are absolutely, positively effective, they want to make sure the water chemistry in Benton Harbor” does not pose a challenge, Oswald said.

Chris Cook, an engineer in the city, said 100 waterline replacements are under contract so far with a federal grant, and 200 more could be added by the end of 2021.