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Michigan officials say over half of Benton Harbor lead lines have been replaced
State officials announced this week that a major milestone had been reached in the city of Benton Harbor, as more than 50% of the lead lines had been replaced with new copper lines or verified as lead-free. On Tuesday, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) Director Liesl Clark gathered in Benton Harbor […]
Benton Harbor water crisis is the ‘ultimate inexcusable repeat of history,’ 3rd lawsuit says
State officials’ decisions around the water crisis in Benton Harbor, including allegedly pushing off a corrosion control study, left “thousands of people to drink and use knowingly unsafe lead-contaminated water,” according to a new class-action lawsuit. “It has been less than six years since the declaration of emergency that made the Flint water crisis worldwide […]
‘A history of overcoming’ in Benton Harbor
Sitting in Benton Harbor’s oldest home, a space built in 1849 that’s filled with the echoes of history, Morton House Museum Board President Denise Reeves and Board Trustee Kate Ulrey scanned the rooms in front of them: expansive, tall-ceilinged places filled with concrete reminders of the people who once called the Southwest Michigan city home. […]
Lead levels are dropping in Benton Harbor’s drinking water, new tests show
After years of dangerously high lead levels that have left Benton Harbor’s 10,000 residents unable to drink their tap water, the most recent round of state-ordered testing showed “a significant reduction” of lead in the city’s water, state officials announced Wednesday. Despite this decrease, lead — a toxic chemical that can cause brain and kidney […]
Federal program pays $150K for overdue water and sewer bills in Benton Harbor
Hundreds of Benton Harbor families facing overdue water and sewer bills have gotten a financial boost from a federal assistance program that has provided a little more than $150,000 to a community still unable to drink its tap water. The federal Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) has paid $151,953 for 237 households with overdue […]
For Benton Harbor attorney, the fight for clean water is personal
Every day, John R. Beason III picks up bottled water to bring to his 88-year-old grandmother’s house in Benton Harbor because they’re unable to drink from the tap due to elevated levels of lead found in the city’s drinking water. There, in a modest home in the city in which Beason grew up, in a […]
Suit alleges ‘deliberate indifference’ from govt. leaders over Benton Harbor water crisis
Updated 11/18/21, 12:21 p.m. A group of Benton Harbor residents filed a federal lawsuit against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Benton Harbor Mayor Marcus Muhammad, and other state and city officials last week, accusing the government leaders of “deliberate indifference” and alleging they failed to adequately warn residents of elevated lead levels in the city’s water for […]
‘Where is the justice for Benton Harbor?’
Softened by the floor-to-ceiling stained glass windows in God’s Household of Faith church in Benton Harbor, Saturday’s afternoon light spread across a sanctuary filled with people wearing “Black Voters Matter” face masks and shirts emblazoned with the words, “clean water is a right.” In the cavernous space, many spoke of poisoned water and political disenfranchisement […]
‘LaSata and Wendzel have been AWOL’: Benton Harbor mayor slams GOP over water crisis
Benton Harbor Mayor Marcus Muhammad traveled to Lansing last month to ask state lawmakers for the $11.4 million that’s needed to replace his city’s aging pipes that have left about 10,000 residents unable to drink their tap water because of elevated levels of lead. “If we recognize the urgency, then the response should be in […]
EPA finds ‘violations and deficiencies’ at Benton Harbor water treatment plant
After finding a series of “violations and deficiencies” at the Benton Harbor water treatment plant, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday said the city needs to take immediate action to protect residents from the lead-contaminated water that has left thousands of people unable to drink from their taps. In light of elevated lead […]