• COVID-19 Resources
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Promotions
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • April 1, 2023

Milwaukee Courier Weekly Newspaper

"THE NEWSPAPER YOU CAN TRUST SINCE 1964"

  • News
  • Editorials
  • Education
  • Urban Business
  • Health
  • Religion
  • Upcoming Events
  • Classifieds

Funding is Primary Issue in Replacing Band Aid Approach to Lead Pipes

September 10, 2016

by Dylan Deprey

Panelists Marc Edwards, Mayor Tom Barrett, Cathy Stepp, and Fred Royal join Moderator Mike Gousha during the Lead, Drinking Water, and Aging Infrastructure portion of the conference. (Photo by Dylan Deprey)

Panelists Marc Edwards, Mayor Tom Barrett, Cathy Stepp, and Fred Royal join Moderator Mike Gousha during the Lead, Drinking Water, and Aging Infrastructure portion of the conference. (Photo by Dylan Deprey)

It was a year ago that Marc Edwards traveled to Flint, MI with a group of colleagues on what he considered a ‘suicide mission.’ The Charles P. Lunsford Professor of Civil Engineering at Virginia Tech University said that at the time they believed they were witnessing an “environmental crime.” Having put their careers on the line they found that severe amounts of Lead leaching into drinking water, along with pipe corrosion had produced bile colored water that was unsuitable for humans.

While the water is far from undrinkable in Milwaukee, 140,000 lead laterals scattered across the state pose a threat for clean drinking water.

Around 70,000 of those lead laterals are buried underneath houses built throughout the early 1900’s in Milwaukee.

During the Public Policy and American Drinking Water conference hosted by Marquette Law School on Sept. 7, 2016, Edwards stated that Milwaukee adding phosphate to water along with people flushing before drinking were a necessary Band-Aid for the issue.

While the strength of the Band-Aid’s adhesive may hold for now, the issue of funding a full removal of lead laterals is a problem no bandage can manage. The total cost for the entire removal reaches up to $500 million.

According to Cathy Stepp, Secretary for Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the DNR has allocated $14.5 Million with the help of the EPA, to create the 2017 Safe Drinking Water Loan Program (SDWLP.) Milwaukee received 6.8 percent of the loan to go toward aiding the replacement of private lead laterals. Although 50 percent of the lead laterals in the state lay in Milwaukee, money was spread throughout 35 other cities across the state.

“There are communities all over the state that are suffering and the challenge is how do we do the most amount around the state with this one-time shot,” Stepp said.

Homeowners are looking at around a whopping $4,000 to replace the lead laterals on their property, which are then connected to the city owned and financed water main.

Mayor Tom Barrett said that Milwaukee houses the second largest concentration of poor people in the country, most of which live in older houses with lead pipes. He said the city was “aggressively” working to find funding at the Federal, State and any additional level willing and to help with the bill.

As the issue of funding for lead laterals rings throughout City Hall, other issues have begun to slowly peel back the Band-Aid approach.

Mayor Barrett said that it roughly costs around 16 cents to flush water for 10 minutes. Royal added that although flushing may be inexpensive, on an environmental scale it was a huge waste of fresh water.

According to the EPA, the average American already uses 80 to 100 gallons of water on a daily basis.

Stepp also added in that the phosphate put in water to layer the pipes and prevent lead from chipping away can accumulate after being sent back to Lake Michigan.

The increased amount of phosphate in the water acts as a food source for algae to bloom across the lake.

Mayor Barrett left the conference reminding the city that for the time being, end-of-the-line filtration systems were an effective stand-in preventative until lead laterals are removed.

While this might be fresh band aid to cover the issue for a little longer, Edwards has witnessed the horror of lead poisoning water first hand.

“As long as we have these lead pipes, no one knowledgeable will ever say that the water is safe, no matter how good your corrosion control is,” Edwards said.

Share:

  • Facebook
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Popular Interests In This Article: Aging Infrastructure, Cathy Stepp, Dylan Deprey, Fred Royal, Lead Pipes, Lead Poisoning, Marc Edwards, Mike Gousha, Tom Barrett, Water Safety

Read More - Related Articles

  • The MKE Pad Masters Defend an Undefeated Season Going into the National Beat Battle Association’s Producer Bowl
  • First Day Fits New Outfit Drive Gives Kids a Confident Start to the New School Year
  • Trees Capiish Proves his Versatility on “You Gotta Buy Your Dope From Me”
  • Babiedoll is Here to Prove that the Youth Got Something to Say
  • Godxilla Invites the Family along for “Lena’s Room Vol. 2 The Hip Hop Nursery” Album and YouTube Series

View COVID-19 Resources

Become Our Fan On Facebook
Find Us On Facebook


Follow Us On Twitter
Follow Us On Twitter

Editorials

Lena Taylor
Lakeshia Myers
Rev Jesse Jackson Sr Ashanti Hamilton

Journalists

Mrinal Gokhale
Dylan Deprey
Karen Stokes
Hayley Crandall
Ana Martinez-Ortiz

Topics

Health Care & Wellness
Climate Change
Upcoming Events
Obituaries
Milwaukee NAACP

Politicians

Pres. Barack Obama
Gwen Moore
Tom Barrett
Milele A. Coggs
Spencer Coggs

Classifieds

Job Openings
Bid Requests
Req Proposals
Req Quotations
Apts For Rent

Contact Us

Milwaukee Courier
2003 W. Capitol Dr.
Milwaukee, WI 53206
Ph: 414.449.4860
Fax: 414.906.5383

Copyright © 2023 · Courier Communications | View Privacy Policy | Site built and maintained by Farrell Marketing Technology LLC
We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.