Watchdog to probe EPA handling of city’s lead-tainted water
By JOHN FLESHER
AP Environmental Writer
A federal watchdog will investigate the government’s handling of drinking water contamination in Benton Harbor, Michigan. The Environmental Protection Agency’s inspector general announced the study Friday. Advocacy groups have accused local, state and federal agencies of a lackluster response to several years of high lead readings in the southwestern Michigan city’s water. EPA says it will cooperate with the review. The problems in Benton Harbor follow a lead-in-water crisis in Flint, another majority-Black city that became a symbol of environmental inequity.
