USDA Secretary Touts Lead Removal Funding
Sec. Tom Vilsack visits Bloomer, Wis. announcing $28 million for lead pipe removal.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited Wisconsin Thursday to tout new federal investments to help communities replace lead pipes in drinking water systems.
Vilsack visited a water treatment plant in the City of Bloomer, which will receive $27.6 million in loans and grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Department of Rural Development.
Vilsack’s visit was part of the Biden administration’s announcement Thursday of a new Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan. The plan outlines how funding from the $1 trillion federal infrastructure bill passed in November and from previous COVID-19 stimulus bills will help communities across the country work on lead abatement and replacing lead pipes in drinking water systems.
“When we invest in rural infrastructure, we invest in the livelihoods and health of people in rural America,” Vilsack said in a press release. “The investments we are announcing today will drive the creation of good-paying union jobs and grow the economy sustainably and equitably so that everyone gets ahead for decades to come.”
Vilsack also announced funding for four other Wisconsin communities to upgrade wastewater treatment facilities and a rural energy cooperative in southwestern Wisconsin to build a new facility.
Bill Miller, Bloomer’s water and wastewater manager, said the city was able to remove all of its lead service lines throughout 2019 and 2020 thanks to money from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ Safe Drinking Water Loan Program. But he said testing showed the community’s water was still exceeding state drinking water standards.
“When the council wanted to look into doing this whole package, I didn’t think we could do it. So it was very important that we found this (USDA funding),” Miller said.
Miller said Bloomer will receive $13 million as a grant and borrow $15 million through the USDA’s 40-year loan program. He said the two-year project will end up replacing about 17 percent of the city’s water system.
Chris Groh, executive director of the Wisconsin Rural Water Association, said it’s fairly rare to see high lead levels in rural municipal water. He said almost every community has some known lead components in their system, but most aren’t proactively working to remove them. Instead, he said rural utilities replace lead components that come up when other system repairs are needed.
“That’s a slow operation and it’s going to take a lifetime to really get at all of the lead systems in a city,” Groh said. “It’s one of those things that just kind of hangs over you … This is a chance to actually get rid of the lead out of a system.”
Groh said rural water systems in Wisconsin serve about 4 million people. By giving communities an opportunity to pay for needed infrastructure upgrades through USDA grants or low-interest loans, he said the investment will help make water safer and less expensive for residents.
Both rural and urban communities have systems that still rely on lead pipes. The City of Milwaukee Water Works’s website says approximately 67,000 of the city’s 164,000 water service lines are currently made of lead.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, issued a statement Thursday celebrating the funding announcement from the Biden administration and what it means to the Milwaukee area residents she represents.
Exposure to lead is most harmful to children, especially under the age of 6. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns lead exposure can cause damage to a child’s brain and nervous system, slow growth and development and cause problems with learning, behavior, hearing and speech.
Wisconsin Republican Party Communications Director Anna Kelly criticized Vilsack’s trip to Wisconsin, saying the Biden administration announcement was an effort to “pander” to Wisconsin voters.
Scott Laeser is water program director for environmental advocacy group Clean Wisconsin. He said there’s a lack of awareness about how common lead components are in rural water systems, with many assuming the issue mainly affects urban areas.
“Milwaukee does have a lot of lead service lines but that is in part just a consequence of the fact that they have a lot of older housing infrastructure. There are a lot of rural communities in Wisconsin with older housing infrastructure that also have lead service lines in them,” Laeser said.
Laeser said he’s hopeful the federal focus on lead lines could spur more action on the issue at the state level. He said Gov. Tony Evers has included funding for lead service line replacement in both of his budget proposals.
“Unfortunately, the legislature has taken that out of both budgets. So I would hope that this federal money is an interim way for us to keep replacing lead service lines while we work on getting needed state investments,” Laeser said.
Listen to the WPR report here.
Wisconsin communities receive funding from Biden administration’s new focus on lead drinking water systems was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
More about the Lead Crisis
- City Hall: Ahead of Biden Visit, Council, DPW Officials Question Efficacy of Replacing Lead Pipes - Jeramey Jannene - Oct 7th, 2024
- Baldwin Delivers Nearly $13 Million for Milwaukee and Kenosha to Remove Dangerous Lead Paint - U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin - Oct 7th, 2024
- Baldwin Delivers $850,000 to Reduce Lead in Schools and Childcare Facilities Throughout Wisconsin - U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin - Aug 29th, 2024
- Baldwin Delivers Over $83 Million to Replace Lead Pipes, Expand Access to Safe Drinking Water - U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin - May 2nd, 2024
- Congresswoman Gwen Moore Statement on Milwaukee Designation as Workforce Hub - U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore - Apr 26th, 2024
- Biden Announces Milwaukee As New “Workforce Hub” For Lead Pipe Removal - Jeramey Jannene - Apr 25th, 2024
- Senator Baldwin Delivers Nearly $2 Million to Keep Wausau Families Safe from Lead Contamination - U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin - Apr 12th, 2024
- IRS Rules that Homeowners Won’t Have to Pay Additional Taxes for Subsidized Replacement of Lead Pipes - Milwaukee Water Works - Feb 29th, 2024
- Milwaukee Makes It Far Easier To Replace Your Lead Service Line - Jeramey Jannene - Dec 18th, 2023
- Congresswoman Gwen Moore Praises Biden Administration Effort to Remove Lead Pipes in 10 Years - U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore - Nov 30th, 2023
Read more about Lead Crisis here