[Podcast] Lead in Drinking Water, Is Flint a Washington DC 2.0 and other tales — A conversation with Dr. Yanna Lambrinidou

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In response to requests about more information on the Lead and Copper Rule (or LCR), the Washington D.C. lead in drinking water crisis, and policy, roles of government agencies, and science communication issues especially w.r.t. to Flint, we thought it was best to record a podcast for interested folks. While we aren’t competing with NPR, we do believe listening to this 1 hour webisode is probably the best thing you can do today.

This podcast with Dr. Yanna Lambrinidou covers a wide variety of topics, but is essentially a primer to the Lead and Copper Rule and why it should matter to every U.S. citizen. In light of Flint’s water worries w.r.t. lead and other contaminants, we hope everyone, especially Flint residents, will benefit from this knowledge. We are grateful to Yanna for being so cheerful and supportive of us and our work, and also for such an insightful interview.

Interview by: Siddhartha Roy

yanna

Yanna Lambrinidou is a medical ethnographer and adjunct assistant professor in the Science and Technology Studies (STS) program at Virginia Tech. For the past 8 years, she has conducted extensive research on the historic 2001-2004 Washington, DC lead-in-drinking-water contamination. This work exposed wrongdoing and unethical behavior on the part of engineers and scientists in local and federal government agencies. In 2010, Dr. Lambrinidou co-conceived the graduate level engineering ethics course “Engineering Ethics and the Public,” which she has been co-teaching to students in engineering and science. She is co-Principal Investigator on a National Science Foundation (NSF) research and education project developing an ethnographic approach to engineering ethics education.

SafeWater4Flint Fundraising Update and Thank You!

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We are very grateful to the 68 generous contributors who helped raise $4,345 through our SafeWater4Flint fundraising campaign.The funds have been donated to the United Way of Genesee County who are spearheading filter distribution in Flint. We anticipate this money will provide filters to about 200 homes. As of today, we are shutting down the GoFundMe campaign, and request future donations go directly to United Way on their donation page here.
UW
We are glad we setup the first fundraising campaign, and are thankful for the love and appreciation we received from Flint residents.  We also commend the efforts of United Way of Genesee County, Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich and his team for their public information efforts, the Governor’s office for pledging $1 million to buy NSF-certified filters, and all donors for their generosity.
In the end, we wish to emphasize that filters are a temporary solution, and urge the authorities to place the health and well-being of Flint residents and their children above all else when deciding upon a steady long term solution. While we fail to understand how issues of accountability in the Flint water crisis are “relatively complex” considering what we and ACLU-Michigan have uncovered, we at least hope to see a speedy resolution to this “public health emergency” in the coming days.
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Anurag Mantha // Siddhartha Roy
For the Flint Water Study Team

Investigation of MDEQ’s new “Corrosion Control” claim reveals more deception and incompetence: Where is the EPA?

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Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, a trial balloon floated at the “Taking Action on Flint Water” press conference (10-2-2015) was that Flint has had “corrosion control” all along. Because this revelation contradicted many prior verbal and written statements, confused reporters pressed hard for specifics and were informed:


Let’s examine the veracity of the latest MDEQ claim about “lime corrosion control” using our own data and that from the City of Flint.

FlintWaterStudy Data

We agree with EPA that “one common corrosion control treatment strategy is to raise the pH of the source water.” And adding lime is certainly one way to raise pH. However, lime is added at Flint for softening (i.e, reducing the hardness of the water), and afterwards, the water pH is reduced with acid. The net effect of the lime/acid treatment process used at Flint, is to increase corrosivity as measured by pH (Figure 1). Specifically, when we sampled in Flint in mid-August, the Flint River (source water) pH was 8.4, and after the lime/acid addition the pH was decreased down to 7.3.

Figure 1. The net effect of lime/acid treatment in Flint for softening, is to decrease pH and increase corrosivity of Flint Treated Water.
Figure 1. The net effect of lime/acid treatment in Flint for softening, is to decrease pH and increase corrosivity of Flint Treated Water.

City of Flint Data Reported Monthly to MDEQ

As we only collected one data point, we then looked at the City of Flint’s data submitted monthly to the MDEQ which is available online. Not only does it prove that their lime/acid treatment is making the water more corrosive by lowering the pH of the Flint River source water (Figure 2), but since the lead problem first became public in early 2015 the treated water pH has been steadily DECREASING and corrosivity has been INCREASING.

Incredibly, even as MDEQ issued false public assurances and worked to cover up problems with high lead in water, the average pH of the treated water was dropping from above pH 8.0 to below pH 7.4. The minimum pHs are even more worrisome, but the point is obvious based on the reported average. Such low pHs are unconscionable in an aging system full of lead pipes when a corrosion inhibitor is not present. Did MDEQ ever even look at Flint’s pH data, which demonstrates the alarming increase in corrosivity?

Figure 2. Data submitted by City of Flint to MDEQ, that illustrates the net effect of lime/CO2 treatment to reduce the pH, to increase the corrosivity of Flint River water. MDEQ quotes about the corrosion control situation in Flint indicated by arrows.
Figure 2. Data submitted by City of Flint to MDEQ, that illustrates the net effect of lime/CO2 treatment to reduce the pH, to increase the corrosivity of Flint River water. MDEQ quotes about the corrosion control situation in Flint indicated by arrows.

At this point, nothing MDEQ says should be believed. First, Flint residents had to determine on their own that MDEQ’s written assertion of “optimal corrosion control” was false, after children’s blood lead was elevated from drinking the water. When confronted, MDEQ then acknowledged that Flint had “no corrosion control.” If MDEQ’s more recent spin were actually true, and the lime/acid process was part of a “corrosion control” plan, an even more disturbing question arises: Why would MDEQ purposefully increase the corrosivity of the Flint source water?

MDEQ’s UNSETTLING LOGIC: LET THEM DRINK LEAD FOR “JUST OVER ONE <MORE> YEAR”

What was MDEQ’s agenda before reluctantly acknowledging a need for corrosion control on August 17, 2015? E-mails from ACLU-Michigan (Investigative Reporter Curt Guyette) provide insight to their logic. Months after the lead in water issue became public and a child had been identified with elevated blood lead from water, a May 1, 2015 e-mail from MDEQ stated to EPA:

“DEQ-ODWMA has not made a formal decision as to whether or not the City of Flint….will be required to do a corrosion control study…As Flint will be switching raw water sources in a just over one year from now, raw water quality will be completely different than what they currently use.  Requiring a study at the current time will be of little to no value in the long term control of these chronic contaminants.”

 That’s right. Since Flint would be getting a new water “just over one year from now,” MDEQ felt that controlling lead corrosion would be “of little to no value in the long term control of <lead>…” According to MDEQ, the time period from April 2014 to April 2016, was a reasonable short-term lead exposure for Flint’s children.

And there is nothing, yet, in the written record, to indicate that MDEQ ever would have implemented corrosion control, if it had not been for intense outside pressure brought by Flint residents, ACLU-Michigan and FLINTWATERSTUDY in late July and early August 2015.

 Where is the EPA?

Since most Flint residents wrote off MDEQ as unscientific and untrustworthy long ago, sadly, the above revelations really only raise one new troubling question: Where is the EPA?

Does EPA’s silence imply consent? Did the EPA, in fact, work out a deal with MDEQ to “handle” their “rogue” EPA employee, Miguel Del Toral, whose interim report first brought Flint’s lead corrosion control problems to public attention? Did EPA give MDEQ’s Communications Director Brad Wurfel, good reason to “promise” NPR reporters that Del Toral’s “final report—not yet released—would tell a much different story” about the legality of MDEQ’s inaction?

To date, MDEQ has had their way with the health of Flint’s children and the truth—EPA’s silence is now deafening.

MDEQ email to EPA referenced above:


Download (PDF, 311KB)

Primary Author: Dr. Marc Edwards

Acknowledgements: Curt Guyette, Siddhartha Roy

Groups Petition EPA for Emergency Response to Flint, MI Drinking Water Contamination

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press contact: Press Contact: Margie Kelly, [email protected], 312-651-7935, Rana Elmir, ACLU of Michigan [email protected], 313-578-6816
If you are not a member of the press, please write to us at [email protected] or see our contact page
Groups Petition EPA for Emergency Response to Flint, MI Drinking Water Contamination
City and state agencies have failed to fix the public health crisis that imperils children’s health

CHICAGO (October 1, 2015) – In response to the ongoing drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan, a coalition of local citizens and national groups petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today to take emergency action to secure safe, lead-free water for the City’s children and families.

Flint-based Coalition for Clean Water, the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, and the Natural Resources Defense Council joined the petition to trigger the EPA to launch a comprehensive federal response to the ongoing crisis. Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the EPA is empowered to stop “imminent and substantial endangerment to human health” such as the elevated lead levels in Flint’s drinking water.

The petition urges that EPA immediately order the City and Michigan DEQ to reconnect Flint’s water system with water from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, and to provide Flint residents with an alternative, free source of safe drinking water that meets EPA standards, among other requests.

“Neither the City of Flint nor the State of Michigan is doing enough to fix the problem of lead in our drinking water. As evidenced by the ongoing poisoning of the children of Flint, it’s time for the EPA to take immediate action to provide us with a safe water source,” said LeeAnne Walters, a concerned parent from Flint and member of the Water You Fighting For, one of the organizations petitioning the EPA. “The city and state need to test for lead and copper as intended by the federal lead and copper rule,” Walters added.

Highly corrosive water in the Flint River, the source of the City’s drinking water, has been flowing through lead service lines in Flint’s water system for more than a year. A medical study has confirmed that the number of children living in Flint with health-threatening elevated blood lead levels has risen since the City switched its water source. One study of Flint children under age five found that the proportion of children living in Flint with elevated blood levels has doubled since the City changed its drinking water source. The statistics are worse for younger children; those under fifteen months old had lead levels elevated 2.5 times greater after the switch to Flint River water.

The City of Flint and the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) have been made aware of tap water monitoring results showing shockingly high lead levels in homes served by the City’s drinking water system for months, but neither has taken the action necessary to meaningfully address the problem. There also appear to be serious issues with how the City was testing for lead in a way that appears to downplay the extent of the problem.

“Americans rightly believe that the water coming out of their taps should be safe, not exquisitely toxic. For more than a year, lead-contaminated drinking water has been flowing through Flint’s pipes, faucets, and fountains. If the City and State will not address the issue, the EPA should step in to protect kids’ health immediately,” said Henry Henderson, Midwest Director for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

“Flint city officials, state-appointed emergency managers and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality have all failed monumentally in their duty to provide the people of Flint with clean, safe drinking water. Now that the truth is revealed, further action is imperative,” said Kary L. Moss, ACLU of Michigan executive director. “The devastating revelations from independent researchers, as well as our own nearly year-long investigation, demand an immediate, effective and comprehensive response. The EPA, along with and city officials, must exercise their full authority to guarantee that the people of Flint are protected from the hazardous water now flowing into their homes. The first step should be to overturn the emergency manager order and remove the Flint River as the city’s source of water.”

There is no safe level of lead exposure.  The toxic effects of lead on virtually every system in the body, and particularly on the developing brains of young children, are well documented. It can also contribute to high blood pressure and other health problems in adults. Even low levels of lead in the blood have been shown to affect IQ, ability to pay attention, and academic achievement, effects that are irreversible.

Until Flint restores a safe drinking water source that meets EPA standards, residents are advised to take the following steps:

  • Flush faucets by running water for a minimum of five (5) minutes prior to consumption;
  • Use only cold water from taps for drinking and cooking, as warm or hot water is more likely to contain higher levels of lead;
  • Install and use water filters that are certified to remove lead by NSF International (labeled as meeting “NSF Standard 53” for lead removal), and regularly change the filter cartridges; and
  • Use only filtered or bottled water to prepare baby formula and food. Children, pregnant or nursing women should also use filtered or bottled water for drinking and cooking.

In addition, residents should consider taking the following additional steps where possible:

·         Remove and clean individual faucet aerators, as lead particles and sediment can collect in the aerator screen located at the faucets;

·         Contact a licensed plumber to replace any household plumbing that may contain lead; and

·         Flush cold water taps after installing any new household pipes or fixtures.

Further information is available at:  www.flintwaterinfo.com.

The full list of petitioners includes:  Pastor Allen Overton of the Coalition for Clean Water; Melissa Mays and LeeAnne Walters of Water You Fighting For; Claire McClinton of the Democracy Defense League; Pastor Alfred Harris of Concerned Pastors for Social Action; Marc Edwards and Siddhartha Roy of the Flint Water Study Team; Dawn Kettinger of the Michigan Nurses Association; Yvonne M. White of   NAACP – Michigan State Conference; The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan; Natural Resources Defense Council; Jeffrey L. Edison of the Michigan Chapter of the National Conference of Black Lawyers.]

Original press release here.

 

Full Petition:

Download (PDF, 484KB)