Wisconsin's Water Crisis

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Misplaced Priorities

$750 Million To Replace Lead Pipes

That's the estimate for replacing lead pipes in the City of Milwaukee.

The city currently has identified 77,585 lead service lines, roughly 46 percent of all the 169,816 service lines in the city. The lateral pipes connect properties to water mains and are owned by the city until they reach the property line. The split ownership structure complicates their replacement, with the city facing substantial legal issues in using city funds to replace privately-owned pipes. 

The city stopped using lead on their portion of the lateral in 1951, with private contractors banned from doing so in the early 1960’s. Multiple studies of properties from the interim decade — 1951 to early 1960s — have found that less than five percent of those laterals contain lead.

And, after many unwanted diseases and deaths, I'm sure we'll have all the pipes replaced by around 2050 or so, maybe. Or maybe Milwaukee can be the next Flint.

Yet, we've found more than $250 million for Miller Park, $241 million for Lambeau Field and at least $250 million for the new Milwaukee Bucks arena. And there's also the hundreds of millions Wisconsin has found for corporate welfare.

But we can't find the money to replace the water infrastructure which impacts nearly 10% of the State's population?

For Further Reading:
Why Your Stadium Sucks: Miller Park
Documents show Bucks' $524M arena cost goes beyond arena, includes professional fees

Milwaukee Bucks' New Arena is a Multimillion Dollar Mistake

The City’s Real Costs for Bucks Arena
The water crisis in Flint, Michigan has had terrible consequences for residents’ health

10 Things They Won't Tell You About The Flint Water Crisis

Study Confirms How Lead Got Into Flint's Water