by Scott McClallen
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy awarded more than $5 million to help six communities improve drinking water systems.
The funding stems from a $4.8 billion bipartisan infrastructure plan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law earlier this year.
EGLE awarded Drinking Water Infrastructure grants and other money listed below.
- City of Ann Arbor: $1.38 million to upgrade the overall drinking water system.
- East Lansing – Meridian Water and Sewer Authority: $2 million to upgrade the drinking water system.
- City of Owosso: $403,500 for projects to upgrade the drinking water system.
- Village of Shelby: $621,000 to upgrade the drinking water system.
- Benton Charter Township received $690,000 in a Consolidation and Contamination Risk Reduction grant to remove or reduce per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or other contaminants.
- The city of Romulus received $456,300 in a Drinking Water Asset Management grant to help drinking water suppliers develop and update asset management plans and create a process to identify and remove hazardous materials such as lead service lines.
“The City of Ann Arbor is excited to receive a Clean Water Grant from the State of Michigan to support improvements to its raw water pump station,” City Administrator Milton Dohoney said in a statement. “This station was constructed in 1949, and this project will allow the city to replace aging infrastructure. Once complete, this project will improve water supply reliability for the City’s 125,000 customers.”
So far, the plan has spent $124 million, including the following:
- $56.4 million for 19 municipalities for lead service line replacement.
- $35.5 million for 105 communities to study their water systems infrastructure and identify potential hazards.
- $21.6 million for 10 communities to reduce PFAS contamination.
- $8.6 million for eight communities to improve their drinking water infrastructure.
- $1.9 million for 27 communities to implement water rate plans to support their asset management plan or watershed plans supporting long-term infrastructure needs to address public health and environmental risks.
The funding follows lead contamination of water systems in Flint in 2014 and in Benton Harbor in 2018.
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Scott McClallen is a staff writer covering Michigan and Minnesota for The Center Square. A graduate of Hillsdale College, his work has appeared on Forbes.com and FEE.org. Previously, he worked as a financial analyst at Pepsi.
Photo “Drinking Water” by Aqua Mechanical. CC BY 2.0.
