The Environmental Protection Agency says lead in Flint, Michigan’s water is below federally specified safety limits. It’s been a decade since the city, trying to save millions of dollars, inadvertently exposed more than 100,000 people, including vulnerable children, to lead leakage from aging pipes — and many residents I still don’t trust what comes out of their faucets and showers.
Melissa Mays, who became a city activist and was a lead plaintiff in class action According to the exhibit, little has changed in the city since 2014. That’s when the economically struggling city disconnected its water supply from the Detroit system and began drawing from the Flint River.
Corrosive chemicals used to decontaminate the water from the river sent lead from the city’s pipes into residents’ taps. The number of children with dangerous levels of lead in their blood has doubled. The water system may also have played a role in some cases in a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease.
Mays, who previously only took a daily multivitamin and brought a gallon of tap water to the gym for her daily workout, now takes 15 prescribed pills a day.
“We try to be civil, and yet no one is in jail. The pipes are not replaced; the construction sites aren’t repaired,” she said. “We don’t have health care.”
And the children of the city faced the risk of lifelong health effects. “It’s quite astonishing that to this day we continue to use our children’s bodies as detectors for environmental contamination,” said pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, whose work spurred official action on crisis.
The results of the children’s blood tests carried out in the summer of 2015 were a wake-up call for Hanna-Attisha, who published her findings this month of September. The city restored its water source to the Detroit system less than a month later, but exposure was widespread by then. Hanna-Attisha estimates that up to 14,000 children were affected. Lead is a neurotoxin particularly harmful to childrenwho may suffer from developmental delays, lasting behavioral problems and as a result, a lower IQ.
The federal government declared a state of emergency for Flint in January 2016. Six months later, testing found that lead levels in Flint’s water had returned to what is considered acceptable by federal standards .
Hanna-Attisha said ongoing work to replace the pipes could release more lead and would not describe Flint’s water as “safe.”
On its website, the EPA still recommends the use of lead filters in Flint as a precaution because many pipes have not yet been replaced.
“Understanding the inadequacy of our drinking water rules, I can’t say ‘safe,’ I can say it complies with the rules. But these rules do not fully protect, especially our children,” he said. said Hanna-Attisha, associate dean. for public health at the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University.
The community created the Flint Registry, which helps track and understand the scope of the crisis. Hanna-Attisha said she has more than 20,000 registrants and has helped connect people with services and support programs more than 30,000 times.
“As a pediatrician, we know what lead does. It’s overwhelming. It’s a powerful, irreversible neurotoxin. There is no safe level. It erodes cognition, distorts behavior,” he said. she declared. “It can change the course of a child’s life. And worse, it can change the life course of a population of children.”
The parent of one of the exposed children described the crisis as “a kind of pandemic.” James Proulx joined a class action after her 8-year-old daughter was exposed. When he discovered she had lead in her blood, he became concerned.
“There are learning disabilities that come with it. So I thought, you know, she’s going to face a difficult future,” he said.
As “Little Miss Flint”, competition winner Mari Copeny achieved national recognition at only 8 years old draw attention to the issuefirst helping distribute bottled water, then his own brand of water filters.
“We still don’t have clean water. Isn’t that crazy? Isn’t that crazy? … They, the people in charge, don’t care. They literally don’t care. Because If they cared, our pipes would have been repaired, we would have had clean, safe drinking water,” she said. “There is no reason why we still have poor quality and toxic drinking water. And for example, where is our clean water? We have been fighting for so long since 2014. And yet, no water clean, no chimera is realized.”
Now almost 17 years old, Copeny doesn’t foresee the work ending.
“It’s not just Flint that has a water crisis. America has a water crisis. And my filters, they’re everywhere. They’re everywhere because everyone deserves water No one deserves to have toxic water,” she said. “Everyone says clean water. It’s a basic human need. It’s what we need to live and survive.”
Resident Nate Campbell told CBS News the crisis was still on people’s minds. He still sees construction happening across the city with the city’s pipes. And it’s always the first thing people ask when they find out someone is of Flint.
“I think there is still a lot of work to be done, hold people accountable for their actions,” he said.
Seven years after the crisis began, former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and eight other current and former Michigan officials were indicted in connection with the scandal – charges that have been fired last year because the state Supreme Court ruled that a one-judge grand jury was improperly used to bring the charges.
When CBS News contacted the EPA to ask about Flint’s water, an agency spokesperson said in a statement: “Flint’s water system has continually tested below water levels. intervention for lead and copper. Residual chlorine levels also met water quality parameters. »
Read the full EPA statement:
Every community deserves clean water, and the Biden-Harris Administration is working to ensure that no family has to worry about the safety of their water when they turn on the tap. That’s why EPA’s efforts to ensure safe and reliable drinking water for Flint residents continues. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has lead responsibility for Michigan’s drinking water program and works with Flint to ensure compliance. The EPA and EGLE oversee and track compliance of Michigan’s public water systems, including Flint. EPA also provides direct technical assistance to help Flint maintain compliance and build capacity.
Nationally, EPA is committed to working with states and communities to protect children and families and ensure our nation’s drinking water pipes are lead-free. By leveraging the historic $15 billion investment made possible by the bipartisan Infrastructure Act, we are one step closer to realizing President Biden’s vision of a 100% lead-free water system for all.
Background
Ten years ago, the state-appointed emergency manager for the City of Flint replaced the Great Lakes Water Authority’s municipal drinking water source (from Lake Huron and the Detroit River) with the Flint River. . Inadequate treatment of corrosive river water destroyed the protective orthophosphate layer of the city’s drinking water distribution system pipes. This caused a rapid increase in lead levels in Flint’s drinking water and the public health crisis that followed.
On January 21, 2016, the EPA issued an Emergency Order under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (Section 1431) to the City and State of Michigan requiring numerous actions to protect the residents of Flint and face the threat to public health. Since July 2016, Flint’s water system has continually tested below action levels for lead and copper. Residual chlorine levels also met water quality parameters.
EPA has worked closely with Flint and the State of Michigan to ensure full compliance with all actions required by the federal order. The main improvements are as follows:
- Flint constructed a relief pipeline connecting treated water from the Genesee County Drainage Commission to the Flint public water system as a secondary backup water source. A reliable backup is essential to maintain service in the event of an emergency and during routine maintenance and repairs.
- The city and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) conducted an extensive corrosion control and pipeline loop study to determine optimal treatment. This treatment regimen, now in place, ensures that lead levels remain well below the intervention level.
- Flint now has more permanent staff at its drinking water plant and has developed new, updated standard operating procedures. As of January 2023, the city had 11 state-licensed and certified drinking water operators. Adequate staffing is essential to ensure safe, efficient and effective operations.
EPA’s efforts to ensure safe and reliable drinking water for Flint residents continues. EGLE is the primary authority for Michigan’s drinking water program and works with Flint to ensure compliance. The EPA and EGLE oversee and track compliance of Michigan’s public water systems, including Flint. EPA also provides direct technical assistance to help Flint maintain compliance and build capacity.
Through the Improving the Nation’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2016, the EPA awarded Flint grants totaling more than $100 million for system upgrades. The agency also established and maintained a robust program to engage with Flint residents and stakeholders. Last summer, the EPA hosted two community workshops: the first focused on water safety, testing and filters and the second on the ongoing redevelopment of the Buick City-RACER Trust site.
For more information, visit the EPA’s Flint Response website.
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