MILWAUKEE – Environmental justice is taking a turn for many Milwaukeeans due in large part to groups advocating on their behalf, like Milwaukee Water Commons. The group was formed four years ago and is now involved local initatives that bring to Milwaukee’s waterways to everyone and ensures access to clean, safe water for recreational purposes and practical life reasons.
In the news as of late is the lead-pipe issue found in the lateral lines of homes build prior to the 1960s. Milwaukee Water Commons has been on the forefront of securing environmental justice for many African Americans who have homes with a lateral line.
WUWM reports, “…last year, Brenda Coley joined the Commons. Her resume includes diversity training, but this was her first step into environmental issues.
“You can’t say this on the radio,” Coley says. What ‘you can’t say’ is the word that popped into Coley’s mind when she and the Commons, and residents of the City of Milwaukee learned that its lead water pipes represent a public health threat to thousands of Milwaukee families, particularly children.
For more on the work that Milwaukee Water Commons in doing, visit WUWM.
