Benton Harbor gets $800,000 to improve water system

BENTON HARBOR — Eyes are on the city of Benton Harbor on a national level, in a good way, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters said during a news conference Friday.

“We’re incredibly proud of the progress you’ve made, ahead of schedule and under budget,” Peters told Benton Harbor officials. “I work in Washington, D.C., and I don’t see that very often.”

Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, spoke in city commission chambers at Benton Harbor City Hall, as he announced he had secured $800,000 for the city through the government funding bill signed into law in December. The money will go toward upgrades to the Benton Harbor water system.

“This funding will support the city’s efforts to improve water quality and safety for residents, including upgrading its water filtration plant, replacing fire hydrants, and other system enhancements,” Peters said.

Mayor Marcus Muhammad pointed to a recent announcement that 99.4 percent of the city’s more than 4,000 lead service lines have been replaced in less than a year. He said the work has been done through federal, state and local partnerships, and “we’ve been watched and looked at as an example on the national level.”

Benton Harbor water consultant John Young Jr. said the state and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found numerous deficiencies in the city’s water system and water filtration plant in 2021. However, Young said city leaders have worked together to find solutions, and the plant is now in compliance and water quality is “excellent.”

“You’ve employed best practices and water sampling and reporting is now in compliance,” he said.

Young said the city achieved full compliance within 18 months. He added there is still work to be done to finalize the structure and staffing of the water filtration plant for the success to be sustainable.

“You can clap,” Peters told the crowd of reporters and community leaders Friday. “This is a community that has really come together to meet a huge challenge. Celebrate your progress.”

He said clean, safe drinking water is a right for every citizen and water contamination is a problem throughout the nation.

Peters helped enact the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which made a historic investment in clean drinking water – including dedicated funding to replace lead service lines and address PFAS contamination.

In the recent government funding bill signed into law, Peters also helped secure $30.5 million for the EPA’s lead testing in schools program, $25 million for its efforts to reduce lead in drinking water, and $7 million to support its work to improve drinking water infrastructure resilience and sustainability. The money is now being deployed to communities.

In addition, Peters said he’s going to continue to focus on protecting the Great Lakes.

Peters is the first Michigan senator since 1959 to serve on the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee.

“It’s long overdue,” he said. “My message to residents is it takes a community coming together to achieve success. Benton Harbor has made great progress over the last few years. There’s more to do. We have to stay focused. We’re going to stand with you every step of the way.”

Muhammad thanked Peters for his support and his work in protecting the Great Lakes.

He said the original estimate to address all the problems with the city’s overall water distribution system was $50 million, and most of the funding has been secured.

Muhammad said the city is still seeking an additional $5 million for remaining water filtration plant improvements.