評論
打印
United States
美國版塊
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
本頓港的鉛管問題及整個美國的鉛管問題正在得到解決
PEOPLE LIVING in Benton Harbor, Michigan, don't drink the tap water.
住在密歇根州本頓港的人們不喝自來水。
Many drive to nearby grocery stores to buy bottles.
許多人開車去附近的雜貨店買瓶裝水。
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.
但與她的鄰居不同的是，麗莎·威廉姆斯沒有汽車，所以她使用從水龍頭中流出的水，盡管社區的水自2018年以來已經超過了聯邦標準規定的鉛限量。
"I have to," Ms Williams laments; the bottled water that volunteers drop off goes only so far.
“我沒有其他辦法，”威廉姆斯女士哀嘆道；志愿者們提供的瓶裝水數量減少了，所以只能是這樣。
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.
擁有近萬人口的本頓港（其中80%以上是黑人），今年因水危機成為頭條新聞，密歇根州承諾在18個月內更換該鎮的所有的水管線路。
That did not stop its residents from filing a class-action lawsuit in November alleging deliberate government indifference.
這并沒有阻止其居民在11月份提起集體訴訟，指控政府故意漠不關心。
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，一名法官批準了一項6.26億美元的資金，用于解決弗林特市的水危機，2014年居民抱怨水污染引發了類似的媒體狂熱。
Getting national attention, it seems, pays off.
獲得全國關注似乎是有回報的。
Like Flint's residents, Ms Williams will soon be able to trust the tap.
和弗林特的居民一樣，威廉姆斯女士很快就能相信水龍頭的水了。
Many of the 22m or so people across America served by lead service lines can look forward to doing the same.
全美2200萬左右使用自來水管，他們都期待著做同樣的事。
Congress has earmarked $25bn for water repairs, between a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a yet-to-be-passed Build Back Better Act.
美國國會已預留250億美元專款用于修水管，包括一項跨黨派的《基建法案》和一項尚未通過的《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，這也比專家們所說的需要來取代全國所有的水管預算少了約200億美元。
Benton Harbor exemplifies how many low-income communities have managed to obtain funding in the past: grassroots organising.
本頓港是許多低收入社區獲得資金案例一個典范：草根組織。
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.
該鎮已成為美國新的“主要熱點”，人們將弗林特市和其他在公眾抗議和全國新聞報道后獲得巨額投資的城市相比較。
In September the Benton Harbor Community Water Council petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a free source of safe drinking water.
9月，本頓港社區水資源委員會向環境保護署（EPA）請愿，要求免費提供安全飲用水。
"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.
該委員會主席愛德華·平克尼說：“我們知道，當我們提交請愿書時舉行新聞發布會，會讓人們感到興奮。”
