| President Joe Biden is awarding $115 million to support needed investments to rebuild Jackson, Mississippi’s water infrastructure, theGrio is first to report. The federal dollars are part of $600 million in appropriations funding approved by Congress last year.
Jackson, a majority-Black city of nearly 150,000 residents, is in a state of rebuilding after its water system nearly collapsed last summer due to major flooding and years of infrastructure neglect.
Residents were left without clean and safe drinking water for days during its initial failure in August 2022 and have continued to face disruptions. The federal government has stepped in to assist the state with emergency support and technical assistance.
Most recently, a federal court ruled in favor of the U.S. Department of Justice to install a third-party outside manager as part of an agreement between the city and the Mississippi State Department of Health as federal, state and local parties work together on a path forward to improve a decades-old problem in one of the country’s poorest cities.
“For years, the people of Jackson, Mississippi, have suffered the consequences of aging water infrastructure,” said President Biden in a statement released to theGrio. “All Americans deserve access to clean, safe drinking water. That’s why I directed my Administration to make sure the people of Jackson have the resources they need and deserve.”
Mitch Landrieu, senior adviser to President Biden and coordinator for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, told theGrio that the initial $115 million award would immediately hit the ground in Jackson.
Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans, said the $115 million is on top of hundreds of millions poured into the state so far.
“Monies had already been sent down – $25 million very early – another $450 million to the state, and $75 million on top of that,” said Landrieu.
In addition, he noted that as a part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was signed into law in November 2021, “there’s a significant amount of money that can flow to the states through [the Environmental Protection Agency] to help with water and sewer systems in cities.”
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