2022年经济学人 密歇根水污染，人们只能喝瓶装水(1)（在线收听）

United States

美国版块

Tainted water

污染水

Message in a bottle

瓶中信

Help is on its way for Benton Harbor's lead-pipe problem, and America's

本顿港的铅管问题及整个美国的铅管问题正在得到解决

PEOPLE LIVING in Benton Harbor, Michigan, don't drink the tap water.

住在密歇根州本顿港的人们不喝自来水。

Many drive to nearby grocery stores to buy bottles.

许多人开车去附近的杂货店买瓶装水。

But unlike her neighbours Lisa Williams does not have a car, so she uses what comes out of her tap, even though the community's water has tested above the federal-action limit for lead since 2018.

但与她的邻居不同的是，丽莎·威廉姆斯没有汽车，所以她使用从水龙头中流出的水，尽管社区的水自2018年以来已经超过了联邦标准规定的铅限量。

"I have to," Ms Williams laments; the bottled water that volunteers drop off goes only so far.

“我没有其他办法，”威廉姆斯女士哀叹道；志愿者们提供的瓶装水数量减少了，所以只能是这样。

After Benton Harbor—a city of nearly 10,000 people, over 80% of them black—made headlines for its water crisis this year, Michigan promised to replace all the town's lead service lines within 18 months.

拥有近万人口的本顿港（其中80%以上是黑人），今年因水危机成为头条新闻，密歇根州承诺在18个月内更换该镇的所有的水管线路。

That did not stop its residents from filing a class-action lawsuit in November alleging deliberate government indifference.

这并没有阻止其居民在11月份提起集体诉讼，指控政府故意漠不关心。

The same day a judge approved a $626m settlement for people affected by a water crisis across the state in Flint, which caused a similar media frenzy after residents complained about tainted water in 2014.

就在同一天，一名法官批准了一项6.26亿美元的资金，用于解决弗林特市的水危机，2014年居民抱怨水污染引发了类似的媒体狂热。

Getting national attention, it seems, pays off.

获得全国关注似乎是有回报的。

Like Flint's residents, Ms Williams will soon be able to trust the tap.

和弗林特的居民一样，威廉姆斯女士很快就能相信水龙头的水了。

Many of the 22m or so people across America served by lead service lines can look forward to doing the same.

全美2200万左右使用自来水管，他们都期待着做同样的事。

Congress has earmarked $25bn for water repairs, between a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a yet-to-be-passed Build Back Better Act.

美国国会已预留250亿美元专款用于修水管，包括一项跨党派的《基建法案》和一项尚未通过的《重建法案》。

Even so, that is about $20bn short of what experts say is needed to replace all lead services lines in the country.

即便如此，这也比专家们所说的需要来取代全国所有的水管预算少了约200亿美元。

Benton Harbor exemplifies how many low-income communities have managed to obtain funding in the past: grassroots organising.

本顿港是许多低收入社区获得资金案例一个典范：草根组织。

The town has become America's new "lead hotspot", evoking comparisons with Flint and other cities that received big investments after public protests and national press coverage.

该镇已成为美国新的“主要热点”，人们将弗林特市和其他在公众抗议和全国新闻报道后获得巨额投资的城市相比较。

In September the Benton Harbor Community Water Council petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a free source of safe drinking water.

9月，本顿港社区水资源委员会向环境保护署（EPA）请愿，要求免费提供安全饮用水。

"We knew that by having that press conference when we filed that petition it would get people excited," says Edward Pinkney, the council's president.

该委员会主席爱德华·平克尼说：“我们知道，当我们提交请愿书时举行新闻发布会，会让人们感到兴奋。”