ELECTIONS, POLITICS, & GOVERNMENT
Second gentleman, White House official tout federal funding to remove lead pipes in SLC
Mar 23, 2024, 6:30 AM
U.S. Second Gentleman Doug , and Tom Perez, Senior Advisor to President Biden and Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson speak outside the City Creek water treatment plant in Salt Lake City on Friday. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Desert News)
(Jeffrey D. Allred, Desert News)
SALT LAKE CITY — Representatives from the Biden Administration, including U.S. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, visited with Salt Lake leaders Friday to tout federal investment in the workforce and clean drinking water in Salt Lake City.
Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, joined Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson at the City Creek Water Treatment Plant in Salt Lake City Friday afternoon to announce a $39 million federal loan to help the city identify and replace lead pipes throughout the city’s drinking water system over the next five years.
“Over 9 million homes, day cares and businesses (in the U.S.) receive their water through toxic lead pipes,” Emhoff said. “All of this is unacceptable, and all of this must change. We know that access to clean water can literally be the difference between life and death.”
Salt Lake City utilities deliver lead-free water to residents, and the majority of remaining lead pipes are on private property. The federal loans will boost the city’s Lead and Copper Program to help identify lead in pipes — with a particular focus on disadvantaged communities.
Read the full story and more from Bridger Beal-Cvetko on KSL.com.
