Up to 10 million Americans are still getting their water through lead pipes — and Republicans have refused to do anything about it.
Long-awaited clean water reform could finally be coming to American cities after years of Republican stonewalling, thanks to President Joe Biden’s American Jobs Plan.
And because Senate Democrats have been given the green light to use the process of budget reconciliation to pass the upcoming infrastructure bill, it could happen without a single Republican vote. That could be critical, as Republicans in the Senate have already said they will try to block the legislation.
The $2 trillion jobs and infrastructure package contains several allocations specifically designated for water reform, to the tune of $111 billion.
First, it provides $45 billion in grants to replace lead pipes throughout the country, reducing toxic and dangerous lead exposure not only in American homes whose water is still siphoned through lead pipes, but in 400,000 U.S. schools and daycare centers too.
It’s is one of the most critical issues addressed in Biden’s infrastructure plan. Many homes built before 1986 are fitted with lead pipes, and water traveling through older, corroded pipes can become contaminated with the toxic metal. In adults, lead poisoning can cause high blood pressure, miscarriage, premature birth, and memory loss. Since children absorb more lead than adults do when this occurs, lead exposure is particularly harmful to infants and young children, often leading to hearing loss and severe developmental delays.
Though the instance was far from isolated, the risks of lead pipes came under national scrutiny in 2014 when citizens of Flint, Michigan, started complaining of murky-looking water in their homes — and adverse health outcomes. The city had stopped piping treated water to residents and instead supplied them with corrosive, untreated water from a nearby river, resulting in severe lead contamination when pumped through Flint’s aging lead pipes.
Local citizens and activists ultimately sued the city of Flint for its failure to deliver clean water. In 2020, the state settled a class-action lawsuit, agreeing to create a $600 million fund so Flint residents whose health was harmed by the lead-contaminated water could file for compensation.