The water system in Benton Harbor, Michigan, has tested for elevated levels of lead for three consecutive years. In response, residents have been told to drink and cook with bottled water. The state has promised to spend millions to replace lead lines.
Free water distribution sites are a fixture of life in the majority Black city in the southwestern corner of Michigan, where almost half of the nearly 10,000 residents live below the poverty line. For three years, tests of its public water system revealed elevated levels of lead.
Waiting in line, LaKeena Crawford worried about the consequences for her 8-year-old daughter, who she has seen try to turn on the water. Some wonder whether the problem would have been handled more quickly if Benton Harbor’s residents looked more like those in neighboring St. Joseph, who are predominantly white.
“The people of Benton Harbor have suffered for too long,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. After Flint’s water crisis, Michigan tightened requirements for lead in drinking water in 2018, boasting it had passed the nation’s most protective law. It imposed more stringent requirements for testing water for lead and mandated that old lead service lines be replaced.
“That’s why lead poising has evaded diagnosis, treatment and prevention for so long,” she said, adding that exposure to lead isn’t safe for children and it’s too soon to predict what the long-term impact may be. Lead levels can vary by household and individuals can respond differently to exposure. The impact can depend on other factors like poverty, too, making it especially important to address the issue in city’s like Benton Harbor, she said.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
12 'Survivor' Challenges I Would *Pay* A Million Dollars To Participate InIf NYC is Sex and the City's fifth friend, water challenges are Survivor's 21st contestant.
Read more »
New York City Cabbies Rescued From Debt Crisis In ‘New Dawn’ For Iconic Taxis'Drivers will no longer be at risk of losing their homes, and no longer be held captive to a debt beyond their lifetime.”
Read more »
Georgia, Alabama, Michigan State, Oregon headline first CFP rankingsThe first College Football Playoff rankings were announced on Tuesday.
Read more »
Voters reelect Black Iowa mayor targeted by pro-police groupVoters in Iowa's eighth-largest city, Waterloo, reelected the city's first Black mayor and chose three Black candidates for City Council, which will have its Black majority for the first time ever. Quentin Hart, who became Waterloo’s first Black mayor in 2015, won a fourth two-year term to lead the city by defeating a white challenger, Margaret Klein, who campaigned as a champion of the police.
Read more »
All the Baby Hair Inspo You Could Ever NeedPlus, tips from the pros about the best products and techniques to use to recreate these 25 looks.
Read more »