In Wilmington speech, Biden stresses access to clean water with new federal funding

It didn't take long for some good-natured ribbing about there being more than one Wilmington.

"Mayor (Bill) Saffo, thanks for the passport to your city," President Joe Biden said at his presidential visit to the Wilmington Convention Center on Thursday. "By the way, you ain't the only Wilmington in America," referring to the one in his home state of Delaware.

And while there was a joke here and there sprinkled among remarks that lasted less than 30 minutes, including some jabs at former President Donald Trump, most of Thursday's speech centered around clean water, infrastructure and jobs for the Port City and across the country.

"It is my great honor to welcome you all here today on this historic day as we host the President of the United States," Saffo said, kicking off the evening's speeches.

Biden in Wilmington: A look at activities surrounding the president's visit on Thursday

The primary purpose behind the president's visit to the Port City was to announce a $3 billion-dollar federal investment into replacing toxic lead piping throughout the nation.

"I'm here to talk about something very basic and fundamental to our communities, to our economy, to our basic human dignity -- safe clean drinking water," Biden said. Lead service lines have been known to pose severe health risks for children, Biden said, including the stunting of growth, slowed learning, and lasting brain damage.

Paris Pugh, a second-grade teacher from Bradley Creek Elementary School, provided insight into the relevance of the issue locally. Bradley Creek Elementary School recently replaced a water fountain with high levels of lead on school grounds using funds from the president's American Rescue Plan.

"My students drink from that water fountain, filling their water bottles every day, so it is a health issue that hits home for me," Pugh said to the StarNews.

"No teacher or student should have to worry about their most basic needs, like access to clean water. Thanks to President Biden and Vice President (Kamala) Harris, students and teachers don't have to worry," Pugh said in her speech.

Biden underscored the need for urgency in addressing this issue.

"There is no safe level of exposure. None," Biden said. "Until the United States of America...deals with this, how can we say we're (a) leading nation in the world?"

Approximately nine million lead service lines remain in the country with approximately 300,000 of those lines present in North Carolina alone, Biden said. Nearly half of the funding allocated to the removal of these lines will be directed to disadvantaged communities across the U.S.

"Studies show communities of color have been the hardest hit," Biden said. "We have to make things right."

The president referred to his 10-year-plan to remove all lead-containing services lines as one of the nation's most ambitious water agendas and highlighted how the initiative will create "good paying jobs you can make a serious living with without a college degree (and that) you can raise a family on."

Referencing Enviornmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan and Gov. Roy Cooper's recent visit to Fayetteville, Biden mentioned the administration's finalization of the first national PFAS drinking water standard. The Biden administration has dedicated $9 billion in funding to address PFAS and drinking contaminants.

"Communities across the Cape Fear watershed know too well why this matters," Biden said. "As a consequence of PFAS, you've seen aggressive cancers emerge in that area. It's gone so far, that we're advising and warning you can't eat the fish from the same water that you drink."

Both Regan and Cooper were present in Wilmington on Thursday and spoke prior to the president.

"All of us working together will achieve President Biden's vision of removing all lead pipes in this country," Regan said, adding that as a father himself, he empathizes with other parents who worry about the health and safety of their own children.

Cooper, who the president referred to as "one of the best governors in the United States of America," expressed gratitude for federal support of statewide efforts. "North Carolina is used to being first in the nation in a lot of things," Cooper said. "We're going to stay out front working to protect clean drinking water."

A few audience members voiced their approval of Thursday's overall message following the event.

Kyle Horton, a physician in Wilmington, said she was "really excited about the monumental announcement of investment in clean and safe drinking water," adding that Wilmington is "on the frontline of this crisis in many ways, including with PFAS."

Judy Justice, a former teacher and New Hanover County School Board member, said that "kids from certain neighborhoods where the lead contamination was evident (had a lot) lower test scores" from her experience as a teacher and administrator. "It should have been addressed this way, in my opinion, 30 years ago."

The presidential visit also encompassed discussion of decreasing unemployment rates, the Affordable Connectivity Program, pharmaceutical costs, and the federal deficit, among others.

"We're the only country in the world who (has) come out of every crisis we've entered stronger than we went in," Biden said before heading offstage. "There is nothing beyond our capacity when we work together."

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: President Joe Biden touts lead pipe removal in Wilmington, NC speech