ESCANABA – Governor Gretchen Whitmer suggested Thursday that residents, hard hit by the hikes in water prices due to the cost of replacing lead pipes, could get a return on their investment – if their communities agree.
“I think if we help the churches, hopefully they will be able to repay some of those dollars.” Whitmer told the Daily Press in an exclusive interview.
Spurred on by the aftermath of the Flint water crisis, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy issued regulations requiring municipalities to replace lead lines within their limits to 5 percent per year from 2021. Rules also changed to ban “Partial line replacements”, where only the leading part of a service has been removed, such as B. a gooseneck that connects a water pipe and a house connection pipe. Any lead made of lead or located downstream from where lead is or was previously lead is considered lead contaminated up to the meter in the house and must be replaced in accordance with regulations.
All the costs associated with the renewal are borne by the municipalities themselves, which has led many cities across the country to significantly increase the tariffs for municipal water. In Escanaba, where main line replacement is expected to cost around $ 20 million, residents saw water prices rise 45 percent in 2019. Prices have continued to rise, with both usage rates and service fees only increasing about 4 percent over the year.
Although the city has applied for grants to help meet the cost of replacing the main lines, the projects are still a significant burden on the city’s coffers. Whitmer suggested Thursday that some of the money from the US bailout, the stimulus package put in place earlier this year by President Joe Biden, could offset the costs for the communities.
“I suggested that we spend about $ 400 million on the MI Clean Water Plan to help local communities replace lead pipes. We need lawmakers to accept and get this done, but there is no question that this is a legacy infrastructure issue across the state of Michigan, and we would like to use these resources that we have as a result of the American rescue plan to help the work to come and help communities replace these leadlines “, She said.
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