Actions Taken to Prevent Flint Water Crisis From Happenning Again

People participate in a national mile-long march in Feb to highlight the push for clean water in Flintstone, Mich. Bill Pugliano/Getty Images hibernate explanation

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Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

People participate in a national mile-long march in Feb to highlight the push for make clean water in Flint, Mich.

Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

Lead seepage into the drinking water in Flintstone, Mich., has caused a massive public wellness crisis and prompted President Obama to declare a federal country of emergency at that place.

The problem began when the city switched its water supply in 2014. Nearly immediately, residents of Flint — a majority-blackness urban center where 40 percent of people live in poverty — started complaining well-nigh the quality of the water. Metropolis and state officials denied for months that there was a serious problem.

By that time, supply pipes had sustained major corrosion and atomic number 82 was leaching into the h2o. The city switched back to its original h2o supply late final year, simply it was too tardily to reverse the harm to the pipes.

High claret lead levels are peculiarly harmful to children and pregnant women, and can cause "learning disabilities, behavioral problems and mental retardation," the World Health Organisation says.

Here'due south how the crisis unfolded:

June 2012-April 2013: Flint Looks For Cheaper Water

Flint officials explore whether the city can salvage coin by switching from its current provider, the Detroit H2o and Sewerage Department (DWSD). City and country officials weigh an alternative: Flintstone could build its ain pipeline to connect to the Karegnondi Water Authority (KWA). That option was projected to save the region $200 million over 25 years, co-ordinate to City Council meeting minutes.

On April 16, Flint Emergency Manager Ed Kurtz tells the state treasurer that the metropolis is going to join the KWA. A day subsequently, Detroit's water organisation tells Kurtz it is terminating service to the city effective a year later, in Apr 2014.

Apr 25, 2014: Switch To The Flintstone River

Until Flint'south pipeline connecting to the KWA is operational, the city needs an interim source of water and turns to the Flintstone River, which was also its main water source until the 1960s.

Flint River water starts flowing to the urban center on April 25.

In a printing release, the city characterized information technology as a temporary switch and aimed to ease resident concerns nigh the water quality. Here's an excerpt:

"Even with a proven track tape of providing perfectly good h2o for Flintstone, there still remains lingering incertitude almost the quality of the water. In an effort to dispel myths and promote the truth nigh the Flintstone River and its viability as a residential water resource, there take been numerous studies and tests conducted on its h2o by several independent organizations. ... Michael Prysby of the Michigan DEQ Office of Drinking H2o verified that 'the quality of the water beingness put out meets all of our drinking water standards and Flintstone water is safe to beverage.'

...

" 'It'southward regular, good, pure drinking h2o, and information technology'due south right in our backyard,' said Mayor [Dayne] Walling, "this is the showtime step in the right direction for Flint, and nosotros take this monumental step forwards in controlling the future of our community's nearly precious resource.' "

Officials did not immediately care for the Flint River water to ensure information technology didn't cause corrosion in the pipes — instead, they took what Michigan Radio characterized as a "expect-and-see" approach.

May: Residents Complain

Some Flint residents complain most the smell and colour of the new water, which is 70 percent harder than its previous h2o source, according to MLive.

August: E. coli And Total Coliform Bacteria Detected

East. coli and total coliform bacteria are detected in Flint's water, prompting multiple advisories for residents to boil their h2o.

An informational document from Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) says the city addressed the problem past increasing chlorine levels in the water.

October. thirteen: General Motors Stops Using Flint River water

General Motors says information technology will stop using Flint River h2o, fearing corrosion in its machines. "Because of all the metal ... you don't desire the college chlorine water (to upshot in) corrosion," GM spokesman Tom Wickham tells MLive. "Nosotros noticed information technology some time ago (and) the discussions accept been going on for some time."

A blast after 1 month of exposure to Detroit water (above) and Flint River water (beneath) Each nail was rinsed in flowing h2o before taking the picture. Courtesy of FlintWaterStudy.org hibernate caption

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Courtesy of FlintWaterStudy.org

A nail after one month of exposure to Detroit water (in a higher place) and Flint River water (beneath) Each nail was rinsed in flowing water earlier taking the motion-picture show.

Courtesy of FlintWaterStudy.org

Jan. ii, 2015: Disinfection Byproducts Detected

Flintstone is institute to be in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act because of the level of total trihalomethanes, or TTHM, in the water. TTHM are disinfection byproducts that occur when chlorine interacts with organic matter in the water. Some types are possible carcinogens for humans, the CDC says.

In response, the state starts buying bottled water for its employees at regime offices. This continues even after TTHM levels returned to compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Deed in September 2015, MLive reported.

February. 25: Tests Prove High Atomic number 82 Levels In Home

A urban center exam "reveals loftier lead content in the h2o of a Flint resident'southward home." As Michigan Radio reported, the water at Lee Anne Walters' home "turns up with a lead content of 104 parts per billion. Fifteen parts per billion is the [Environmental Protection Bureau]'s limit for lead in drinking water."

In April, Walters says her child was diagnosed with pb poisoning. An independent exam done by Virginia Tech researchers finds pb levels at 13,200 ppb — water is considered hazardous waste at v,000 ppb.

Apr: Country Agency Notifies EPA That Flintstone Did Not Implement Corrosion Controls

The EPA says information technology was notified by the MDEQ on or about Apr 24 "that the City did not take corrosion control treatment in identify at the Flint Water Treatment Institute."

July 13: 'Anyone Who Is Concerned About Atomic number 82 ... Can Relax'

A leaked internal memo from the EPA expresses concern nearly atomic number 82 levels, including the level at Lee Anne Walters' home. The ACLU picks upwardly the report.

Michigan Radio reaches out to the MDEQ for comment nearly the memo, and spokesman Brad Wurfel says, "Permit me start here — anyone who is concerned about pb in the drinking water in Flint can relax."

He adds that he hasn't seen the memo, but that preliminary tests evidence the Walters test was an "outlier." Wurfel tells Michigan Radio, "Information technology does not look similar there is whatever broad problem with the water supply freeing up lead equally it goes to homes."

Aug. 20: Lead-Level Samples Excluded From Report

The MDEQ dropped two samples from its initial study on lead levels from the city, which put the result within federally mandated levels.

"If the state had just dropped one high sample, Flintstone still would take been over the federal action level," Michigan Radio reports. "But dropping two samples put them below the activity level."

Officials said the two samples did not meet federal criteria — because one of the samples had a h2o filter and some other came from a business rather than a home, Michigan Radio reports.

September: Virginia Tech Team Finds 'Serious' Pb Levels In Flintstone

A team from Virginia Tech tests hundreds of homes for pb in Flint, and says that "preliminary tests show 'serious' levels of atomic number 82 in city water."

"The levels that we take seen in Flint are some of the worst that I take seen in more than 25 years working in the field," Dr. Marc Edwards, a member of the Virginia Tech team, tells Michigan Radio.

Officials such as MDEQ spokesman Brad Wurfel dismiss the Virginia Tech results. He tells Michigan Radio: "I don't know how they're getting the results they're getting. ... I know that it doesn't match with any of the other surveillance in the surface area."

In an email to MLive journalist Ron Fonger, Wurfel says:

"It's scientifically probable a research team that specializes in looking for pb in water could have found it in Flint when the city was on its old water supply. We won't know that, because they've simply just arrived in town and quickly proven the theory they prepare out to prove, and while the state appreciates academic participation in this discussion, offering broad, dire public health advice based on some quick testing could be seen as fanning political flames irresponsibly. Residents of Flint concerned well-nigh the health of their community don't need more of that."

In a September interview with NPR, Edwards says: "Flint is the merely city in America that I'thousand aware of that does not have a corrosion command plan."

Sept. 24: Study Finds Elevated Lead Levels In Children

A study from the local Hurley Medical Heart found that 2.one percent of children historic period 5 and under had elevated blood lead levels prior to the switch to Flintstone River water, compared to 4.0 percent subsequently the switch. A spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said the elevated pb level results may be a outcome of seasonal changes, rather than the alter in the water source.

Registered Nurse Brian Jones draws a blood sample from Grayling Stefek, v, at the Eisenhower Elementary Schoolhouse in Flint in January. The students were existence tested for atomic number 82 later on elevated levels were found in the city's drinking water. Carlos Osorio/AP hibernate caption

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Carlos Osorio/AP

Sept. 25: City Lead Advisory

Flint issues a lead informational to residents. "While the City is in full compliance with the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act, this information is beingness shared as function of a public awareness entrada to ensure that everyone takes note that no level of lead is considered safety," it reads.

That same twenty-four hour period, Gov. Snyder's chief of staff, Dennis Muchmore, writes in an email that the MDEQ and Section of Community Wellness "feel that some in Flint are taking the very sensitive issue of children's exposure to lead and trying to plough it into a political football challenge the departments are underestimating the impacts on the population and particularly trying to shift responsibility to the state."

Oct. 2: Water Filters And Testing

An action plan released by Snyder says the city and state will provide gratuitous filters and water testing for Flint residents, among other things.

Oct. 16: Switch Back To Detroit Water Supply

Flintstone switches back to the Detroit water supplier, which is now called the Great Lakes Water Authority. The governor's office said in press conference notes that the Detroit water "will be easier to manage. It comes from a more stable source than the river, it is fully optimized for corrosion control, and information technology is clear that residents of Flintstone have more confidence in this water source."

Oct. 18: State Regulator Cites Confusion Well-nigh Federal Protocol

In an email to a Detroit News reporter, MDEQ Director Dan Wyant discusses why there were no corrosion controls in place when the city started using Flint River h2o. He seems to chalk upward the lack of corrosion controls to a misunderstanding:

"What has become clear in recent weeks is that the staff believed they were treatment the state of affairs in accord with the proper protocol for a water provider using a new source, simply the federal Lead and Copper rule has a particular provision for communities over l,000 people; that the system operator must continue treating with full corrosion control fifty-fifty as they test the water.

"What the staff did would have been the proper protocol for a community under fifty,000 people. None of the DEQ staff in this division had ever worked on a h2o source switch for a community over fifty,000 people — it'south uncommon for big communities to switch sources.

"It'southward increasingly clear there was defoliation here, merely it also is increasingly that DEQ staff believed they were using the proper federal protocol here and they were non."

Wyant adds that lime had been added to the water just provided "insufficient corrosion control."

A Dec e-mail from Snyder'southward communications director, Meegan Holland, as well said that Flint never tested the impact of the Flintstone River water on the distribution system.

Dec. 14: Mayor Declares State Of Emergency

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver declares a state of emergency over the elevated lead levels in the city's h2o. "I am requesting that all things be done necessary to accost this state of emergency proclamation, effective immediately," Weaver tells the City Quango, according to MLive.

Weaver, who vowed to ready the water crisis, shell out incumbent Dayne Walling in an election the previous month.

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver speaks at a press conference in March. Geoff Robins/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Geoff Robins/AFP/Getty Images

Dec. 29: State Regulation Officials Resign

MDEQ Managing director Dan Wyant and spokesperson Brad Wurfel resign, MLive reports. This comes a day afterward the Flint Water Advisory Job Force, created by the governor, releases a preliminary report on the crisis and concludes that master responsibility rests with the MDEQ.

The written report says that in the agency'southward interactions with the public about their concerns, its response "was often one of aggressive dismissal, belittlement, and attempts to ignominy these efforts and the individuals involved."

January. 2016: Snyder and Obama Declare Land Of Emergency

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder declares a state of emergency in Genesee County due to the pb in Flintstone's drinking water.

President Obama declared a land of emergency less than two weeks later. The move "ways FEMA is authorized to provide equipment and resources to the people affected. Federal funding will aid cover the cost of providing water, water filters and other items," as we reported.

Jan. 21: EPA Issues Emergency Guild

The EPA problems an emergency order to have action on the Flint water crisis. "EPA has adamant that the Metropolis of Flint'southward and the State of Michigan's responses to the drinking water crisis in Flint have been inadequate and that these failures proceed," the emergency order reads.

Feb three: Testimony From Flint Officials And Experts

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hears testimony from several Flint officials and experts.

Simply much attending has focused on who wasn't testifying at the hearing: Gov. Snyder and urban center emergency managers who presided over the alter in Flint'south water supply.

February. 17: Gov. Snyder Testifies

Snyder, along with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, testifies before the House Commission on Oversight and Authorities Reform.

"Permit me be blunt," the governor says in his opening statement. "This was a failure of government at all levels. Local, state and federal officials — we all failed the families of Flint."

Flintstone resident Glaydes Williamson holds upwardly a bottle of water from the city and hair pulled from her drain during a Business firm Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., in Feb. Molly Riley/AP hide caption

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Molly Riley/AP

March 21: 'Next Steps' For Flintstone

Snyder outlines country agencies' goals in addressing the Flint crunch.

The action plan includes providing professional support for children under 6 with elevated atomic number 82 levels, replacing water fixtures in public facilities, replacing the metropolis's eight,000 atomic number 82 service lines, and increasing resource for schools.

March 23: Independent Probe Pins Arraign On State Officials

Supporting its preliminary conclusion, the task force charged with investigating the causes of the Flintstone water crisis says in its final written report that the MDEQ bears main responsibleness.

Task force member Chris Kolb tells reporters:

"From a regulatory standpoint, to a protection of human health and the surroundings standpoint, they missed the boat completely. And it is extremely troublesome to me that an agency whose master role, once again, is to protect human wellness and the environment came to these decisions, and they never backed off these decisions, no thing how many red flags they saw."

Others are besides to blame, the report says, including the state's Department of Health and Homo Services, the metropolis's emergency managers and the governor.

April 12: Researchers Say Flint's Water Is Even so Unsafe

Despite improved pb levels in Flint's h2o, it remains unsafe to drink without a filter, according to results released from Virginia Tech researchers. (Though Gov. Snyder later pledged to drinkable filtered Flint h2o for 30 days.)

That'due south partially because residents have been using very little of the tainted water. As the Two-Way has reported, "in an unfortunate bicycle, the water additives that would 're-scale' corroded pipes in the water system, thereby preventing lead from leaching into the water, are not reaching the pipes because people in Flintstone don't desire to pay for contaminated h2o that they tin't use."

MLive reports that in December, Flint began calculation phosphates to the h2o that would "rebuild the protective blanket inside transmission lines."

April 20: Criminal Charges Filed Confronting three Officials

Michigan's attorney general, Bill Schuette, announces that 3 people volition face up charges — the first criminal charges leveled against officials over the lead crisis.

Stephen Busch and Michael Prysby are state officials at the MDEQ. City employee Michael Glasgow is Flint'southward h2o quality supervisor. As the Two-Way reported, the three "face up felony charges including misconduct, neglect of duty and conspiracy to tamper with evidence. They've too been charged with violating Michigan's Safety Drinking H2o Deed."

June 22: Lawsuit Filed Against ii Corporations

Schuette announced that his office is suing two companies involved in Flint'south crunch, and he says the damages could attain hundreds of millions of dollars.

Veolia, a French company, was hired by the city equally a h2o-quality consultant in 2015. Texas-based firm Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam was originally hired in 2011 and helped to operate the water treatment plant using the Flint River. The ceremonious lawsuit accuses both firms of negligence and public nuisance, and also defendant Veolia of fraud.

"In Flintstone, Veolia and LAN were hired to do a job and failed miserably," Schuette told reporters at a news conference. "They failed miserably in their job — basically botched it, didn't stop the water in Flint from existence poisoned. They fabricated it worse, that's what they did."

July 29: Criminal Charges Filed Confronting 6 Officials

Schuette announced criminal charges against six more current and one-time state employees, bringing the total number of people charged to ix.

Liane Shekter-Smith is the sometime director of the drinking water and municipal assistance office inside the MDEQ. She and two subordinates, Adam Rosenthal and Patrick Cook, allegedly misled officials about Flint'due south water handling establish, which was not in compliance with pb and copper rules.

The other three people charged are current or former employees of the Michigan Section of Health and Human Services. The director of the child wellness unit, Nancy Peeler, her subordinate, Robert Scott, and a state epidemiologist Corinne Miller allegedly failed to release a report that showed dangerous atomic number 82 levels in the blood of Flint children.

All six are charged with misconduct in function, conspiracy, and willful neglect of duty. Rosenthal is also charged with tampering with prove, for allegedly requesting water tests that did not evidence elevated lead.

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Source: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/20/465545378/lead-laced-water-in-flint-a-step-by-step-look-at-the-makings-of-a-crisis