City receives $600k grant from EGLE
By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
CHICAGO — The City of Three Rivers may soon be on a track to have lead pipe replacement accelerated in the near future.
On Friday, Sept. 20, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in a press release they would be collaborating with the city to help identify drinking water lead pipes, accelerate replacement and protect public health, and that the city would be participating in the EPA’s Get the Lead Out Initiative.
According to the EPA, The Get the Lead Out Initiative is a program funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law with the goal of moving the U.S. toward achieving 100 percent lead service line replacement, and will provide technical assistance to the City of Three Rivers and a total of 200 communities nationwide. The city is one of six communities in Michigan to receive this assistance.
Specifically, the EPA will support the city of Three Rivers in identifying lead pipes, developing lead service line replacement plans, increasing community outreach and education efforts, and applying for funding. Additionally, according to the EPA, the technical assistance provided by the Initiative will give each municipality a roadmap for identification and full replacement of all lead service lines, including public and private portions.
“President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is driving historic levels of funding to replace lead service lines in communities like Three Rivers across the country,” EPA Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore said in a statement. “EPA is using every tool available, including regulation, funding, and this technical assistance initiative, to get the lead out of the nation’s drinking water once and for all.”
“The City of Three Rivers is grateful for the EPA’s assistance in helping our community improve its water distribution system so we can provide the highest quality water to its residents,” Three Rivers City Manager Joe Bippus said in a statement. “We recognize this is a historical problem and will take time and resources to overcome but we are committed to reaching our goal to get the lead out.”
As part of the initiative, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) announced on Sept. 19 the city received a $600,000 technical, managerial, and financial grant, which will be used for the work on identifying and verifying lead service lines in preparation for replacement. Currently, the city has been in the process of identifying where lead service lines are in the city, a process that has been ongoing since 2022.
Three Rivers Department of Public Services Director Amy Roth said in an interview Tuesday the identification process has over 350 of its 2,600 water service lines identified right now, and the $600,000 grant is anticipated to help in identification of 750 more.
The city has been above the action level for lead in its water since August 2023, when it was first announced that six out of 47 homes tested in the city had over 15 parts per billion (ppb) of lead in their tap water. In the most recent test announced in August of this year, six homes out of 44 tested had lead in their tap water. While the city has said the water system itself in the city does not have lead detected in it, the announcement has since caused plenty of criticism of the city and its water, which in some areas of the community has been observed to be yellow or brown colored, along with criticisms about the high cost for water.
Following the first exceedance notice, the city offered free filters and cartridges for eligible residents via the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and is continuing to do so.
Roth said Tuesday that the city learned about the EGLE grant at the end of 2023, and submitted an application back in January, with notification of being offered the grant in July, with city commission approval in August. She added it was “exciting” for the city to receive the grant and the EPA assistance, the latter of which they learned about through EGLE.
“[EGLE] recommended us to be one of the six communities in the state of Michigan, and we of course gladly accepted the help,” Roth said. “The EPA is helping us make the list and the bidding documents and everything for the service line verification out at the curb. They’re basically coming alongside us and helping with the administrative process of the whole thing. Their help is greatly appreciated with the limited amount of staff we have.”
The Three Rivers Clean Water Campaign, a local group that has been urging the city to do more about replacing lead service lines and improving water quality in the city, praised the partnership in a statement Tuesday.
“We are thrilled with this news,” resident and founder of Homeless Outreach Practiced Everyday Casey Tobias, who has worked closely with the campaign, said in a statement. “We’ve been organizing for over a year, knocking on doors, holding public meetings and testifying at City Hall. It’s great to see all that work pay off.”
Melissa Mays, a Flint Water Crisis activist who has been assisting the Clean Water Campaign, said in a statement the city is “moving in the right direction” with this partnership.
“I was happy to see the EPA mention public health. We will continue with a state of emergency with our public health until the last lead line is replaced,” Mays said.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
