The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Assistant Administrator for Water Bruno Pigott was joined by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan along with other officials to celebrate the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department’s steadfast progress in protecting the city’s drinking water from lead.
The officials met in Detroit on August 9, 2024, to celebrate the progress.
Since 2022, Detroit has received $90 million in federal funding to help replace lead pipes, including $85 million distributed by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes & Energy, and a $5 million EPA grant awarded under the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act.
Legacy pipes can leech lead into drinking water, which can cause developmental problems, liver damage and other concerns.
Recent federal funding has rapidly accelerated the city’s lead service line replacement program.
Since 2018, the utility has replaced nearly 9,500 lead service lines. Over half of those have been replaced in 2024.
Detroit’s lead service line replacement program uses a neighborhood-by-neighborhood approach, prioritizing vulnerable areas such as communities with a high density of low-income households, children and senior, and housing built prior to 1945.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan stated in an EPA press release that the EPA funding has helped the district accelerate lead service line replacement.
