JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The federal government will spend $600 million to fix the ailing water system in Mississippi’s capital — a project the mayor said could cost billions of dollars.
Jackson’s water funding is included in a $1.7 trillion federal spending bill that passed the Senate on Thursday and the House on Friday. President Joe Biden is expected to sign it.
“As families begin to come together for the holiday season, today’s action providing emergency funding to meet the basic need for clean water for every household in Jackson should be celebrated as a promise of equitable infrastructure services for all families around the world,” said Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP. , who lives in Jackson, said in a statement Friday.
Jackson is a predominantly black city of nearly 150,000 people, with about 25% of residents living in poverty.
The city has had water problems for years and its system nearly collapsed in late August after heavy rain flooded the Pearl River and exacerbated problems at the main water treatment plant. Most Jackson residents lost running water for several days and people had to line up for water for drinking, cooking, bathing and flushing the toilet.
Since late July, residents of the city have been advised to boil water before consuming it because health officials have found cloudy water that can cause illness. This advisory remained in place until mid-September.
In a Sept. 27 federal complaint, the NAACP said Mississippi officials “almost ensured” a drinking water calamity by starving Jackson of badly needed funds to upgrade its infrastructure.
The EPA announced Oct. 20 that it was investigating whether Mississippi state agencies discriminated against the state’s majority black capital by refusing to fund water system improvements. EPA Administrator Michael Regan has traveled to Jackson several times for meetings on the water.
In early November, state officials announced Jackson would receive $35.6 million for water system upgrades — money from the federal government through the American Rescue Plan Act. The city was required to match dollar-for-dollar its share of the bailout funding, bringing that total to more than $71 million.
In late November, the US Department of Justice made a rare intervention by filing a proposal to appoint a third-party manager for the Jackson system. It was meant to be an interim step while the federal government, city and Mississippi state health department try to negotiate a court-enforced consent decree, the department said. The goal is to ensure the long-term sustainability of the system and the city’s compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act and other laws.
A federal judge approved the intervention, and Ted Henifin, an experienced Virginia water system manager, was named director. He has the support of Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba.
Henefin is overseeing work that includes a winterization project to make the water system less vulnerable and a plan to increase staffing at Jackson’s two treatment plants, which have lacked skilled workers.
In a statement Friday, the EPA administrator said he was grateful to Congress for committing money for Jackson.
“Jacksonians — like everyone in this country — deserve access to clean, safe and reliable water,” Regan said.
Johnson said the federal funding would not have been approved without the advocacy of Jackson residents and the leadership of the Biden administration and House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, a Democrat whose district includes most of Jackson.
“While this funding is a significant step in the right direction, it is only a down payment,” Johnson said. “The NAACP and our partners will continue to fight to protect black and brown communities from environmental racism in Jackson and across the country.”
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Emily Wagster Pettus, Associated Press