33% of City of Benton Harbor lead service lines replaced

LANSING, Mich. – Improving weather conditions and added staffing have helped service line replacement crews accelerate their lead service line replacement work throughout the city. Crews have replaced 542 lead service lines with copper over the past 30 days and are currently averaging 18 lead service line replacements per day. As of today, 33% of lead service lines in Benton Harbor have been replaced with copper lines.

To date, nearly 1,500 water service lines have been replaced or verified non-lead as of Wednesday morning, leaving roughly 2,900 to complete. The sixth and final contractor on the project began work this week. Progress on the project is updated daily on the Benton Harbor project dashboard.

The funding in the Building Michigan Together Plan signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer late last month directs $45 million to the City of Benton Harbor for infrastructure improvements including replacement of all the city’s lead water service lines. The funding ensures the city will have resources to fully replace all service lines by the spring of 2023 as ordered by Governor Whitmer late last year.

More than 2,100 “Right of Access” Water Service Line Replacement Agreement forms have been completed – a necessary step to allow the contractors to access private properties to perform the work. The Water Service Line Replacement Agreement may be accessed, filled out and submitted online. Forms may also be submitted to Abonmarche, 95 West Main Street, Benton Harbor, MI 49022 or emailed to Sandy Riehl at sriehl@abonmarche.com. For questions, call 269-926-4557.

# # #