DETROIT (AP) — Michigan is urging residents of Benton Harbor to use bottled water for cooking and drinking in response to elevated levels of lead.
The state has been making free bottled water and filters available in Benton Harbor for a few weeks. But the announcement Wednesday is the first time that authorities have recommended that residents reduce their use of tap water.
The state last month said it would go door-to-door to distribute filters.
In its latest statement, the state says the federal government is conducting a study to determine how effective the filters are in reducing lead in drinking water.
Benton Harbor is about 200 miles away from Flint, which also dealt with a water crisis.
Residents began getting sick after the city started using water from the Flint River in 2014. By 2015, doctors had discovered high levels of lead in the blood of children.
In 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency declared Flint an emergency and provided the city with $100 million to fix its aging water infrastructure.
