Biden announces $2.6 billion in funding to replace all lead pipes across the United States

Milwaukee, Wisconsin – President Biden is set to announce $2.6 billion in funding to replace all lead pipes in the United States as part of a plan. New EPA rule That would require identifying and replacing lead pipes within 10 years using new bipartisan infrastructure law funding.

The EPA estimates that nine million homes in the United States have lead pipes.

The city of Milwaukee, where Mr. Biden will make the announcement, has 65,000 lead pipes that the city says will cost about $700 million to remove.

“The science has been clear for decades. There is no safe level of lead in drinking water,” EPA Administrator Michael Reagan told reporters Monday.

The final rule requires better lead testing requirements and requires a full inventory of lead water pipes. The $2.6 billion is the latest payment made by the Biden administration for lead pipes in the $50 billion 2021 Infrastructure Act for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.

Legal challenges may arise, but a senior administration official believes the ruling is within the EPA’s “statutory authority” and is on solid legal ground.

Mr. Biden’s trip comes as Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump make stops in the swing state of Wisconsin. Mr. Biden’s last visit was nearly a month ago to Westly, Wisconsin, for an announcement on rural electrification.

Mr. Biden’s political focus on Wisconsin reflects hope that Democrats can hold on to the state in 2020 after losing it by a narrow margin in 2016.

According to a 2021 study published in JAMA Pediatrics, Wisconsin is one of six states where children’s blood lead levels are more than double the national average.

According to Dr. Adam Blumenberg, an emergency physician and toxicologist at New York University-Presbyterian/Columbia Irving Medical Center, even low levels of lead can cause small amounts of mental impairment, depending on the child.

“If there’s some lead in a child, you really want to find out where it’s coming from and eliminate the source of the exposure. That’s always one of the most important things to do,” Blumenberg says.

Deanna Branch, a mother and lead-awareness activist from Milwaukee, told CBS News that she’s finally seeing money from the bipartisan infrastructure bill being used to remove lead pipes in her community.

Aidan, the son of Shabeh, suffered lead poisoning while living in a house with lead paint, windows, pipes and soil. Her son’s lead levels were so high that they had to move out of their home and into a homeless shelter for almost three months while they looked for safe housing. Branch said the experience was terrifying for her son and left him with health problems he will have to deal with for the rest of his life.

Branch now lives in a house without lead paint, but they still have lead pipes.

“When I first started advocating, there was a 50-year plan that got cut down to a 40-year plan, now there’s a nine-year plan to remove all lead pipes in Milwaukee,” Branch told CBS News. I got to live to see the lead pipes coming out of Milwaukee, and that gives me hope for other places as well.”

The Milwaukee community still needs more to live in a safe lead-free environment: more housing and more clinics.

The branch says there is not enough safe housing in the community. According to the branch, her old house, where her son was poisoned with lead, was still being rented out a few years ago. As for the Next Door pediatric clinic where her son was first tested for lead, it has since closed, leaving a health care gap in the community. The branch considers this clinic to be lead-free for her youngest daughter.

There is a sense of shame for parents whose children are suffering from lead poisoning, but the branch wants to remove shame from the equation of seeking help.

“I want them to know it’s not about you,” Branch says. “We don’t get justice, and having clean drinking water is a human right.”