VP Harris hosts White House summit to replace lead pipes

WASHINGTON — U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris hosted a summit at the White House on Friday to speed up the removal of lead pipes across America — an issue she has previously called a public health crisis.

Harris was joined by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, along with other representatives from state and local government, water utilities, labour leaders, NGOS and the private sector, a White House official said.

The White House has made removing every lead pipe within 10 years in the United States a centrepiece of its plan to address racial disparities and environmental issues in the wake of water contamination crises in recent years from Newark, N.J., to Flint, Mich.

The administration announced US$15 billion in funding to remove such pipes as part of the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package President Joe Biden signed in November 2021.

To date the administration has put in $5 billion of those funds in cities and towns across the country but millions of lead service lines still deliver water to schools, offices, homes and daycare centres throughout the country.