Benton Harbor's water crisis highlights failing infrastructure's impact on the poor

Residents have been forced to use bottled water due to lead contamination.

The small town of Benton Harbor is the latest example of decaying infrastructure and historic divestment leading to a water crisis in the state of Michigan.

Car lines have been wrapped around blocks for weeks at local distribution locations where many low-income residents are collecting cases of bottled water after state and city officials advised them not to use the tap water due to high levels of lead contamination.

"You still have to pay for water you can't drink, you can't brush your teeth with, you can't cook with, or bathe with it," said Rev. Edward Pinkney, president of the Benton Harbor Community Water Council. "No city in this country should have to go through what Benton Harbor went through for the past three years."

Benton Harbor's water system has exceeded EPA standards for lead contamination since 2018, according to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. In six tests over that period, each six months apart, at least 10% of the water samples taken from homes and businesses in the city have shown lead contamination above 15 parts per billion.