Year: 2015

[Complete Dataset] Lead results from Tap Water Sampling in Flint, MI

flintwaterstudy Articles, Research Updates

We have been getting requests to release our lead-in-water analysis from samples collected via the remarkable citizen science effort in Flint and, therefore, are making available the complete dataset. We also offer a comparison of lead results from select homes where both Virginia Tech and MDEQ sampled.

Suggested Citation: FlintWaterStudy.org (2015) “Lead Results from Tap Water Sampling in Flint, MI during the Flint Water Crisis”

Download (XLSX, 32KB)

Data checks: Rebekah Martin, Min Tang, Anurag Mantha, Siddhartha Roy

 

Dr. Edwards and graduate student Anurag Mantha visit City School in Grand Blanc, MI to meet and discuss Flint water experiments the students themselves performed

flintwaterstudy Articles, Research Updates

The students performed experiments with both Flint River Water and Detroit Water to analyze lead release in these conditions. They were replicating experiments the FlintWaterStudy group performed a few months ago demonstrating very high lead release in the Flint River water condition. The experimental results from this school will be shared soon.

Clarifications sought to strengthen the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) Working Group’s Recommendations towards Long Term Revisions to the LCR

flintwaterstudy Articles

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) is in the midst of revising the federal Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) and is currently holding meetings Tuesday through Thursday (Nov. 17-19, 2015) in Washington, DC. Senior Policy Analyst at the Northeast Midwest Institute (NEMWI), Elin Betanzo evaluated the recommendations being offered by the National Drinking Water Advisory Council LCR Working Group (LCRWG) towards long term revisions and commended their proactive, consumer-centric approach for improving public health protection against lead exposure from drinking water in a newly published NEMWI position paper (see below).

However, the paper also seeks urgent clarifications on many of the LCRWG’s recommendations (highlighted in the document below) towards ensuring that public health protections of the LCR are actually increased and the intent of the federal law is fulfilled.


Clarifications Needed to Strengthen the Lead and Copper Rule Working Group’s Recommendations for Long Term Revisions to the Federal Lead and Copper Rule

Download (PDF, 324KB)

More information on Long Term Revisions to the LCR (no relation to the analysis above): Dr. Yanna Lambrinidou’s Dissenting Opinion on the Upcoming Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) Long-Term Revisions

 

Elin Betanzo came to the Northeast-Midwest Institute in 2012 as a Senior Policy Analyst specializing in water quality and water infrastructure issues. She is the project lead for Toward Sustainable Water Information, a project focused on securing water data to support decision making in the Northeast-Midwest region. Prior to joining the Northeast-Midwest Institute, Elin was a hydraulic engineer and water planning manager at the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission where she led water system master planning and hydraulic modeling, from source water through existing and planned infrastructure. Prior to that, Elin spent close to 10 years at the Environmental Protection Agency in the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water developing and implementing regulations under the Safe Drinking Water Act, and serving as the National Tribal Drinking Water Coordinator.

Elin holds a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering and a Water Quality Management Certificate from Virginia Tech. She also has a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Piano Performance from Carnegie Mellon University. Elin is a Professional Engineer registered in Maryland and Virginia, and a certified water system operator. In 2014 she was appointed to the Federal Advisory Committee on Water Information.

Elin was born and raised in the Detroit area and currently resides in the great state of Michigan.

For more information, go here.

Commentary: EPA Office of Water weighs in on MDEQ’s illegal actions in Flint, fulfills MDEQ prophecy

flintwaterstudy Articles

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finally broke their silence on the Flint tragedy two weeks ago, when it quietly released a memo answering the simple question: “Was MDEQ wrong, when it tried to leave Flint’s children completely unprotected from lead in water hazards for close to two years?”

As demonstrated by e-mails from a FLINTWATERSTUDY.org Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, MDEQ did not want to be bothered with installing corrosion control in Flint before the new Karegnondi Water Authority pipeline came online in 2016. Even after MDEQ realized Flint children were being lead poisoned from the tap water in early 2015 and were told by EPA their plans were illegal, they worked doggedly to do nothing at all. A month ago MDEQ admitted it had made mistakes.

But the EPA Office of Water memo now bails out MDEQ on their actions in Flint. According to EPA, MDEQ cannot really be blamed because “….there are differing possible interpretations of the LCR…which may have led to some uncertainty..” in what the law requires. This logically builds on EPA’s earlier assertions that sorting out accountability for Flint’s lead poisoned children is a “relatively complex” problem. That’s right. Figuring out who is responsible for the health and economic devastation resulting from the lack of corrosion control in Flint is complicated. And even if normal people cannot see it that way, EPA will be working overtime to make it complicated.

The EPA Office of Water memo also fulfilled the prophecy made by MDEQ’s Brad Wurfel to National Public Radio on Sep 29, who said that EPA’s final word on the corrosion control issue “not yet released — would tell a much different story” than did the 2015 report by Del Toral who directly cited the federal statute MDEQ was violating.

Not surprisingly, MDEQ continued the inter-agency lovefest, by issuing a statement lauding the EPA’s leadership role on the Flint saga.

“We’ve appreciated the federal government’s support on the situation in Flint – including its announcement last week that the Lead and Copper rule speaks ambiguously on the corrosion control issue. Nobody wants to see a situation like Flint, and we look forward in working with our federal partners going forward because we share the goal of making sure the Flint situation is not repeated – in Michigan, or anywhere else.”

It pains us immensely to say this but: With environmental policemen like MDEQ and EPA looking out for our children, who needs environmental criminals?

Primary Author: Dr. Marc Edwards