Milwaukee, WI
Biden in Milwaukee announces 10-year timeline for lead pipe replacement • Wisconsin Examiner
All U.S. municipalities will be required to remove lead from their water lines over a 10-year period under new federal regulations the Environmental Protection Agency released Tuesday.
To officially announce the new rule, President Joe Biden traveled to Milwaukee, where he spoke about the role that his administration’s bipartisan infrastructure law played in advancing the replacement of lead pipes in Wisconsin’s largest city as well as across the country.
“For too long, local communities have known how important it was to deal with this problem,” Biden said. “It hadn’t been given the national priority it demanded, though. I’m here today to tell you that I’m finally insisting that it gets prioritized, and I’m insisting to get it done well.”
The U.S. has more than 9 million water service lines still using lead pipes, according to the EPA, including 340,000 lines in Wisconsin.
The infrastructure law includes $15 billion for lead pipe replacement. It also contains incentives to use union labor and to create apprenticeship programs to train more workers.
Underscoring that, Biden was introduced by Alonzo Romo, a Laborers Union member who has been among the workers replacing lead lines in Milwaukee.
“I personally helped move 35 lead laterals, and while I have a lot more to do, I know we’re making great pace,” Romo said. “This is hard work, but it is so rewarding. Not only am I getting paid great wages and great benefits, but I know that when I am removing a lead service lateral, I’m helping a family in our community have access to clean drinking water.”
Nationally about 367,000 lead lines have been replaced — and in the process, Biden said, “providing what’s good for our health and for our environment is also good for our economy and it’s good for jobs.”
The rule released Tuesday is an update of the federal lead and copper rule for drinking water. The 10-year timeline it requires for all communities to replace their lead service lines starts in 2027.
“This is also about fairness,” Biden said. “Nationally, I’m directing nearly half of this funding to go to disadvantaged communities that have borne the brunt of lead pipe poisoning for damn too long.”
A disproportionate number of people living where lead pipes remain in use are people of color, Biden said. “We have an obligation to make things right.”
Advocates praised the measure as a boon to public health.
“As we confront the legacy of lead contamination, this rule strengthens accountability and prioritizes the safety of our most vulnerable communities,” said Sara Welling, director of the water and agriculture program at Clean Wisconsin. “Today’s announcement sets us on a course for a healthier future, empowering local governments and water utilities to address this persistent threat with greater urgency and transparency.”
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Community members and city leaders celebrated the opening of four new community-powered fridges on the North Side of Milwaukee. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Friday, Feb. 27, at Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, 3624 W. North Ave., to mark the occasion.
The effort to fight food scarcity by opening community-powered fridges comes after several grocery stores closed in the area, creating a food desert.
District 15 Ald. Russell W. Stamper II, who saw several grocery stores in his district close over the past few years, served as the event’s emcee.
“We could either complain about the problem, or we could come together to find a solution,” Stamper said.
In July 2025, a Pick ‘n Save on the North Side closed, prompting the opening of a community-powered fridge at Tricklebee Café in the Sherman Park and Uptown area. Since then, several other grocery stores have closed in the area.
This led Stamper, FEED MKE, Metcalfe Park Community Bridges and One MKE to open four more community-powered fridges.
Christie Melby-Gibbons, executive director of Tricklebee Café, talked about the organization’s community-powered fridge. About a week ago, the fridge was empty for the first time since its launch, so staff turned to their online community for support.
“Within 20 minutes, a woman came in with bags of food and filled the fridge for less than $100,” Melby-Gibbons said.
The community-powered fridge network is run by residents on a take-what-you-need, leave-what-you-can model. Taking a grassroots approach to solving food insecurity in the area, community members provide fresh produce and other healthy food options to ensure that their neighbors have access to nutritious foods.
“Everybody deserves to eat. I can’t go to sleep at night knowing my neighbors are hungry,” said Melody McCurtis, deputy director of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges.
Here’s a list of all the community-powered fridges:
Metcalfe Park Community Bridges
3624 W. North Ave.
Rooted & Rising- Washington Park
3940 W. Lisbon Ave.
Sherman Park Community Association
3526 W. Fond du Lac Ave.
Dominican Center
2470 W. Locust St.
Tricklebee Café
4424 W. North Ave.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
This article first appeared on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The Milwaukee Brewers were one of the more active teams in the league this offseason and it was one of the more shocking storylines to follow all winter.
They opted to trade Freddy Peralta to the New York Mets, which was a blockbuster deal, but it was expected. Peralta was on an expiring contract, and the Brewers were unlikely to be able to land a long-term deal with him. Milwaukee would much rather have control of Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams for the next five to seven years rather than a singular year of Peralta.
But they also traded Isaac Collins to the Kansas City Royals and Caleb Durbin to the Boston Red Sox. The Collins deal was a head scratcher, but the Durbin deal was the most shocking move of Milwaukee’s offseason.
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The Brewers traded Durbin and two other infielders to Boston in exchange for Kyle Harrison, David Hamilton, and Shane Drohan. Harrison is the biggest addition of the trade. Drohan has already flashed dominant potential this spring. Hamilton, who struggled last season, seemingly has the full belief of Brewers manager Pat Murphy.
David Hamilton could soon become a star for the Brewers
“He’s got so much ability in there, and he’s got experience, and he might be a utility player but I think he can be really good for us. I think he can take his offensive game to a whole other level,” Murphy said when talking about Hamilton, per Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy.
Last season, Hamilton slashed .198/.257/.333 with a .590 OPS and a 63 OPS+. It was his third year in the big leagues and his second full year at the level and he’s yet to post an OPS+ over 100. But he’s still been worth 3.6 WAR over the last two years because of his defense and baserunning. The issue has been his bat. Even when he hit .248 in 2024, his OPS was under .700.
But Murphy seemingly believes Hamilton could take the next step at the plate, which would set him up to be a very good platoon infielder and versatile bat. He has the chance to quietly develop into a star with the Brewers if he can get his OPS over .700 and closer to .750. Obviously, this isn’t going to be easy, but Murphy seems to believe he’s closer to this breakout than many fans assume.
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