Residents press Detroit committee to oppose water-rate hike and investigate contaminated soil

Public commenters at the Detroit City Council Public Health and Safety standing committee meeting on Feb. 23 urged elected officials to block another water-rate increase and to investigate widespread contaminated soil they said is damaging neighborhoods.

Cecily McClellan, of We The People Of Detroit, told the committee that a water-rate increase proposed for the coming week (identified in the transcript as a proposal from 'GLEWIS') would add more than 6% this year after a 5% increase last year and that more than 60,000 residents are eligible for the city's water-affordability program. "We are opposed to another water rate increase," McClellan said, adding that current contributions to assistance programs are insufficient and urging a larger payment from the water authority to support both assistance and infrastructure.

Several other speakers linked the concern about water affordability to broader environmental health complaints and calls for oversight. Carolyn Hughes urged the committee to use its subpoena power to investigate so-called "dirty dirt" around the city, saying contamination has been present for years and is running into water as spring arrives. An unnamed resident caller detailed lot-level concerns and said agenda items that fund environmental testing and cleanup appeared both late and insufficient, asking the committee to examine contracts cited on the agenda for large sums.

Tahira Ahmad similarly urged the committee to oppose new rates and to investigate contaminated soil. "Use your subpoena power to investigate the dirty dirt," she said. Betty A. Varner, president of the DeSoto Outdoor Black Association, asked when DWSD would present on the lifeline H2O program and said residents need an authoritative briefing from water-department staff.

Why it matters: Commenters tied rate increases, assistance shortfalls and neighborhood contamination to broader equity issues. McClellan and others warned that recurring rate hikes will make water unaffordable for tens of thousands of households and urged the council to press DWSD and the water authority for more funding to assist low-income residents.

What the committee said and next steps: Committee staff advised that DWSD's lifeline H2O presentation is tentatively scheduled for March 4 before the Budget, Finance and Audit Committee and will be confirmed at the Wednesday meeting; Chair noted that scheduling information will be shared. No formal vote on rates occurred at this meeting; public commenters asked the committee to investigate contaminated soil and to use subpoena power to compel information about contracts, remediation and testing.

Quoted from the meeting: "We are opposed to another water rate increase," said Cecily McClellan of We The People Of Detroit. "Use your subpoena power to investigate the dirty dirt," said Tahira Ahmad.

The meeting did not produce a committee action to stop any rate proposal; the next procedural step for lifeline program discussion was scheduled for early March.