Five more West Michigan communities net grants to identify lead service lines

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Five more West Michigan communities have received state grants to make improvements to their water infrastructure systems.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has announced another $27.1 million in MI Clean Water grants. In this latest round, 12 municipalities received grants, including Allegan, Dowagiac, Ionia, Saugatuck Township and Vicksburg.

Allegan, Dowagiac, Ionia and Vicksburg will each receive $600,000 grants to help identify or verify lead service lines that need to be replaced. Saugatuck Township’s grant is worth $258,000.

The biggest grant in this round went to the city of Escanaba in the Upper Peninsula, nearly $19 million to replace more than 10,000 linear feet of sanitary sewer lines and manholes and build a new lift station.

“We’re pleased to be able to offer this assistance to so many Michigan communities striving to maintain aging water infrastructure while also keeping customer water rates in check,” EGLE Director Phil Roos said in a statement. “Everyone deserves clean drinking water and healthy rivers and lakes. These grants help communities meet those needs for current and future generations.”

All five of the West Michigan grants will come from EGLE’s Emerging Contaminants in Small/Disadvantages Communities Program, which is part of the Clean Water State Revolving Fund . That program gets its funding through the American Rescue Plan Act.

According to EGLE, the Clean Water State Revolving Fund has awarded more than $137 million in federally funded grants to Michigan communities this fiscal year.

The cities of Muskegon Heights and Norton Shores, along with Caledonia Charter Township and the village of Lawrence received grants announced last month.

Since January 2019, the state has spent more than $4 billion on upgrading drinking water, storm water and wastewater facilities statewide, which it says also supports more than 57,000 jobs.

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