MILWAUKEE — President Joe Biden visited Wisconsin for the seventh time this year on Tuesday.
While making remarks at the Department of Public Works headquarters in Milwaukee, the president announced new investments to remove lead pipes nationwide.
As he addressed a room full of trade workers and local unions, Biden highlighted a new $2.6 billion investment from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which he says will help Wisconsin’s effort to remove thousands of lead pipes.
“We're here today to address an issue that should have been addressed a long time ago in this country: the danger lead pipes pose to our drinking water,” the president said.
The task is not new to Milwaukee, which has 65,000 lead pipes in use—the most in the state.
With this new investment, the EPA has set a 10-year deadline for all lead pipes in the nation to be removed.
Watch: Biden touts new investments in lead pipe removal during Milwaukee visit
“I’m insisting it get prioritized, and I’m insisting it get done.”
The process will employ thousands of local trade workers and unions to complete the job.
Many of those people were in the audience Tuesday, including construction laborer Francisco Hernandez.
“We’re the restoration,” Hernandez explained of his role. “We come repair whatever they tear up—the sidewalks, the roads, the curbs.”
Born and raised in Milwaukee, Hernandez says the work his company does is vital to the city’s goal.
“People have lead pipes, and they don’t even know. By us doing that, they get good, clean water for themselves and their children.”
It’s a sentiment local labor union member Alexis Hamilton agrees with.
The certified nursing assistant works in health care and says this investment will benefit the health of the city and state as a whole.
“It’s very important,” Hamilton explained. “We’ve got a lot of young kids who have to grow up. Our water and these pipes are important for our elders. It’s important for us. It’s very, very important.”
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