EPA Orders Benton Harbor, Michigan to protect residents from lead-contaminated drinking water

LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued an enforcement order directing the City of Benton Harbor to take specific steps to bring its water system into compliance with federal drinking water law.

That comes just months after nearly 20 groups petitioned the agency to take emergency action. Due to high levels of lead in tap water, the State of Michigan is providing free bottled water to residents.

Last month, the State of Michigan began delivering bottled water to Benton Harbor after issuing an advisory that residents not use tap water for “cooking, drinking, brushing teeth, and mixing powdered infant formula.”

In September, a group of 20 Michigan and national organizations filed an emergency petition with the EPA to secure a free source of safe drinking water for Benton Harbor’s nearly 10,000 residents, among other requests including full removal of the nearly 6,000 lead service lines delivering water to homes.

Cyndi Roper is the Michigan senior policy advocate for the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), who issued the following statement.

“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. “Bottled water provided by the state is a bridge toward safe water, but the bottom line is decades of disinvestment have left the residents of Benton Harbor with a grossly inadequate water system. Now we need federal and state lawmakers to come together to secure funding to fix the problems and restore residents.”

Executive Director of Great Lakes Environmental Law Center Nicholas Leonard also issued a statement.

“It is appropriate for EPA to step in to take action to address the many shortcomings of Benton Harbor’s public water system, which extend far beyond the ongoing lead contamination,” Leonard said. “While the Emergency Petition filed with the agency on behalf of Benton Harbor residents shined a light on the issues with the City’s water system and spurred the EPA to action, these efforts are long overdue. Benton Harbor residents have been living with a public water system that has suffered from chronic underinvestment from our federal and state governments and as a result the system has been incapable of providing safe drinking water to residents for far too long. It also begs the question: how many other environmental justice communities have public water systems with similar issues but are being ignored?”

To find more information about Benton Harbor water distribution, click here.