By Elina Salikhova
Governor Gretchen Whitmer, along with a slew of state and local officials, logged a victory lap two years ago when she announced that nearly all of the lead pipes in Benton Harbor, a small city in southwest Michigan, had been replaced “ahead of schedule.” The announcement marked the culmination of the second major water crisis in the state — both in poor, Black-majority cities — in less than a decade.
While the replacement of lead pipes in Benton Harbor was being completed in record time, action to address the water problem, initially, had been slow, critics charged. Now, just a few years after the Flint water crisis exposed thousands of children to lead poisoning and resulted in a $620 million settlement, Michigan has to mitigate the ongoing consequences of the lead-pipe problem in Benton Harbor and other localities with aging infrastructure. Winning back the trust of local residents may be harder.
“I stopped drinking the water, I pray to God I never have to drink” it again, said LaToya Turner, a Benton Harbor native and director of community connections and engagement for the local Boys and Girls Club, which became an epicenter for both distributing bottled water and disseminating information on pipe replacements and public-health announcements to local families. In 2014, following the Flint water crisis, people were saying “never again,” recalled Turner, who played a central role in the Boys and Girls Club’s mitigation efforts, and who says her trust in local officials has been shattered.
The Reverend Edward Pinkney, a local advocate who founded the Benton Harbor Community Water Council in response to the crisis, agreed: “The residents here do not trust the water being good and drinkable. The damage has been done to the community.”
The seeds of Benton Harbor’s water problems were planted years ago. Built in the 1950s, the city’s water plant was designed for a population of 19,000 residents, businesses and factories. After companies like Whirlpool pulled their manufacturing out of the area, population and incomes plunged. To make matters worse, the neighboring townships of St. Joseph and Benton split away from the Benton Harbor water system during the past decade. In recent years, the water plant’s much-diminished customer base of about 9,000 residents — many of whom can’t afford to pay their water bills — doesn’t produce enough revenue to support the plant, creating a vicious cycle of high water bills and inadequate maintenance.
In 2018, water testing in Benton Harbor began to show elevated lead levels that exceeded the federal standard of 15 parts per billion of 90 percent of the samples collected. Between 2018 and 2019, lead levels climbed to an average of 32 parts per billion. The levels dropped a year later, but still registered an average of 24 parts per billion.
It wasn’t until August 2021, when a group of concerned citizens and advocacy organizations that included Pinkney’s water council signed an emergency petition to the Environmental Protection Agency, that the agency responded by issuing an enforcement order directing citizens of Benton Harbor to avoid drinking water. (Environmental groups, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council faulted the EPA for responding too slowly.) At the same time, Governor Whitmer signed an executive order to start a program to replace all street pipes within 18 months and to provide access to drinking water to all members of the affected community. Within 11 months, 99 percent of the pipes were replaced.
Persuading Benton Harbor residents that drinking water is now safe, however, is a challenge. Amari, a 17-year-old student at Benton Harbor High School who did not want her last name used, recalled being “scared to get in the shower.” Similarly, Cynthia Hayne, 55, a resident of Flint, said her son’s lead exposure weakened his body and he “had to undergo surgery on both of his legs” — the kind of story that has spooked Benton Harbor residents.
As the Michigan Department of The Health and Human Services and the Berrien County Health Department conduct tests to determine how many people are affected by the lead exposure, the shadow of Flint looms large. The data shows that more than 300 kids in Berrien County had lead levels of 5 micrograms per deciliter or more in their blood. Even low levels of lead in a child’s blood can reduce IQ, ability to pay attention and academic achievement, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While no adverse consequences have yet been reported from the elevated lead levels in Benton Harbor, it can take years for those effects to emerge. And lead exposure is irreversible.
Now that Benton Harbor’s water-main pipes have been replaced, Michigan is prioritizing the replacement of the pipes leading from water mains to individual homes. The program is free, and residents can apply to have the water pipes in their homes tested. Homes built prior to 1978 get priority.
The government has contracted Home Depot to oversee the replacement efforts. Following an inspection, contractors assess whether the plumbing system poses any hazards. To date, 400 homes have had their plumbing replaced.
The problem of lead pipes is not unique to Michigan. Before the 1970s, using lead pipes for plumbing was common throughout the U.S., prompting the EPA to roll out a new federal framework aimed at safeguarding communities from lead exposure and averting future lead-related water crises. In May, President Biden earmarked $3 billion to replace “every lead pipe in the country,” which total close to 13 million, on top of an original $15 billion investment in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Representative James Clyburn, the South Carolina Democrat, recently singled out the Biden administration’s efforts to eliminate lead pipes for praise, noting that the problem disproportionately impacts poor Black communities.
However, according to the NRDC, “the crisis in Benton Harbor shows that it takes more than federal money to assist under-resourced local governments. They need guidance, technical help and, often, strong advocates.”
State Representative Joey Andrews, of District 38, which includes Benton Harbor, noted that the costs of replacing pipes, especially in rural areas, will be enormous. For example, he cites the city of Douglas with a population of just 1,300 and an annual budget of just a few million dollars. “They need almost $2 million to replace all the lead lines in their city,” he said.
Meanwhile, areas like Berrien County, where Benton Harbor’s outdated water plant is located just a few miles from complex water systems run by other towns, may need to completely rethink their water infrastructure.