'There's no safe level of lead': $83 million from the Biden administration will help Wisconsin replace lead pipes

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Around nine-million lead service lines still operate in the United States, and many are here in the Midwest.

Now thanks to the Biden administration, Wisconsin is receiving more than 83-million-dollars in funds to replace its lead pipes.

The money is part of a $3 billion nationwide investment, which "administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is part of the historic $15 billion in dedicated funding for lead pipe replacement provided by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law," a news release said.

On Thursday, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson's office confirmed the city would see "tens of millions" of the total allocated funds.

“There’s no safe level of lead in the human body so it’s incumbent upon us to work to make sure we’re moving lead service laterals out of the ground here in Milwaukee," Mayor Johnson said. 

Milwaukee has around 65,000 residential lead service lines in ground.

Johnson said the city's goal is to use these millions to remove the public health obstacle with "maximum efficiency."

“We want to do it in such a way that it’s not sort of whack-a-mole where you’re going to remove one and then you gotta turn back and come back and later on remove another," Johnson said. “With these additional resources it puts us at a position to get them out of the ground sooner and the sooner we’re able to do that the better off all of us will be.”

He added that while there isn't an exact timeline yet, the funds should be able to speed up the removal process.