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BENTON HARBOR, MI – Michigan state officials accused local advocates of a lack of bottled water at a Benton Harbor distribution site on Friday, where townspeople waited for about hours before leaving. empty hands.
There was no water supply at God’s Household of Faith Church on Pipestone Street on Friday October 22. This was despite city and state advice that he would be there from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. for residents who depend on dispensing cylinders in the midst of a lead crisis and service outage after a major disruption that left the whole city without water for part of the week.
Bob Wheaton, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), said in an email that the state had been “informed at the last minute” that the church “had rescinded its commitment to distribute water this afternoon ”.
“Bottled water was delivered to the site and was ready for distribution,” Wheaton wrote. “We realize the people of Benton Harbor have been through a lot and wish they were disturbed.”
Drivers of a mid-afternoon line of cars stretching the length of the block were ordered to wait and keep their seats in line by the city manager’s office, who said that the water was spot on.
A locked white semi-trailer was parked behind the church.
“I just spoke with someone from the state,” Benton Harbor resident Linda Seuell, City Manager Ellis Mitchell’s office secretary, said on the phone at around 3:20 p.m., over an hour and a half later. Seuell’s arrival. “I know the water is there, but they’re trying to see if they can get someone to distribute it, but don’t get out of the line yet.”
Only took it in stride.
“I’m not really crazy,” she said. “I don’t know what’s going on because all the other places are always on time. You know, things happen.
Confused residents asked for help from journalists on the spot. Several television journalists showed up to cover the cast. One helped drive a young girl from a car at the front of the line to a nearby house to use the toilet.
MLive called the city manager’s office around 3 p.m. and was told the distribution should take place. Berrien County Health Department spokeswoman Gillian Conrad texted around 3:30 p.m. saying the church was a state organized and operated site and “I have no idea the reason why one of their sites is not working “.
“Hope you can reach someone there soon!” ” she wrote.
Messages to DHHS were not returned until 6 p.m. The department distributed a city press release on Thursday identifying the site as a Friday distribution site.
The Rev. Edward Pinkney, chairman of the Benton Harbor Community Water Council, which distributed water there, wrote on Friday that the church was not a distribution site.
Water deliveries were taking place nearby. Pallets were laid out for residents two blocks from an apartment building at 250 E. Wall Street, where City Commissioner Jerry Edwards, a resident of the building, said he received listings conflicting sites Friday.
Edwards said he saw people lining up at Pipestone Church for hours before it was even scheduled to start. “I don’t know what to mix,” he said.
The drivers waiting in the rain eventually got tired and left around 4:15 p.m., according to people who stayed behind after MLive reporters returned after checking other places in town where water had been found. already been distributed.
The Pipestone campus has been a regular distribution site this month, as the state injected bottled water into Benton Harbor after advising residents to avoid tap water ‘out of caution’ on the 6th. October.
Authorities have asked residents to reuse the water to relieve pressure on the system after the main rupture is repaired, increasing the need for an alternative to tap water.
The drive-through distribution took place earlier Friday without incident at the Southwest Michigan Community Action Agency on Miller Street from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The state said the water supply would take place on weekends from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm Saturdays at the Boys & Girls Club on Nate Wells Sr. Drive; and 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays at the Church of God Abundant Life on Columbus Ave and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Church of the Brotherhood of All Nations on Monroe Street.
Benton Harbor’s beleaguered water system has been testing high levels of lead since 2018, when the city’s 90th percentile lead tests began showing action level exceedances of 15 parts per billion (ppb). Since then, the levels have remained high with each consecutive set of tests. Single-family homes have shown extremely high lead levels this year, including testing at 889, 605, 469, 109 and 107 ppb, according to state data.
A petition filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in September by a group of environmental and public health advocates calls for federal intervention in the city, which was under emergency financial management designated by the Status from 2010 to 2016.
Despite recent updates to the Benton Harbor water treatment plant and storage tank, much of the town’s distribution system is 100 years old, according to the state. Many homes built before the 1960s probably have lead lines. The state estimates it will cost $ 30 million to replace the city’s lead lines, which Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has pledged to do by April 2023.
Asked in a State House watch hearing Thursday, Michigan Department of the Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) director Liesl Clark admitted that the water no It’s not drinkable, a statement local advocates have pushed state officials to make.
EGLE staff testified that part of the heightened response this fall to a problem the state has been trying to solve for three years was sparked by concerns that nanoparticles of lead could pass through faucet filters. that the state and county have distributed to mitigate the risk of exposure.
Republicans are attacking the governor over the issue, claiming his administration hid the problem before now. The Senate is asking for documents as part of a watchdog investigation into state efforts to adjust water treatment in Benton Harbor.
Related stories:
Benton Harbor water service restored after main disruption
Lead filter worries it sped up BH’s response, officials say
Recall petition targets BH mayor over water crisis
Whitmer seeks $ 11.4 million to dig up BH lead lines
Senate Republicans launch investigation into water monitoring in BiH
Michigan aims to replace all BH lead pipes in 18 months
Blood lead data shows rise in Benton Harbor
‘It’s ridiculous.’ Frustrations rise in Benton harbor
Benton Harbor urged to use bottled water amid lead crisis
2022 budget deal includes millions for water infrastructure
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