EPA to audit Michigan drinking water program following Flint lead crisis

EPA to audit Michigan drinking water program following Flint lead crisis

FLINT, MI -- In the wake of a public health crisis over high lead levels in water in some Flint homes, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced it will audit the state's drinking water program.

A Nov. 10 news release from the EPA says it will examine the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality's "implementation of the Safe Drinking Water Act and related rules on lead and copper, total coliform, nitrates and ground water."

The audit comes after requests for a federal investigation of Flint's water crisis by U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint, and state Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint.

Brad Wurfel, a spokesman for the DEQ, issued a statement today, pledging the agency's cooperation.

"EPA is conducting this audit to ensure that MDEQ maintains reliable drinking water supplies that meet all of the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act," EPA Region 5 Administrator Susan Hedman said in a written statement.

"This comprehensive audit will provide Flint residents and the people of Michigan with more information about MDEQ oversight of public water supplies and will identify actions that may be needed to strengthen the Michigan drinking water program." 

The EPA news release says employees of the agency will go to MDEQ offices to review state files on public water system compliance with the SDWA and will review the state's oversight of public water systems.

"The audit will consist of a full programmatic review that supplements the reviews of the Michigan drinking water program that EPA conducts each year," the news release says.

The audit is expected to take several months to complete and a report will be issued when it is complete.

In separate letters to Gina McCarthy, administrator of the EPA, last month, Kildee and Ananich asked for the federal review of the MDEQ's oversight of water treatment in Flint.

A public health emergency was issued in Flint after researchers from Virginia Tech university and a Hurley Medical Center doctor discovered high lead levels in Flint's water supply and rising blood lead levels in children since the city switched its water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River in April 2014.

DEQ Director Dan Wyant has said state regulators mistakenly allowed the city to distribute river water without requiring that it be treated to make it less corrosive.

Wurfel said in an email to The Flint Journal-MLive that the DEQ "welcomes this announcement from EPA, and we've already signaled to them that they can count on our full cooperation and transparency."

"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," Wurfel's statement says.

"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." 

Ananich said the federal investigation would not have been necessary if an independent commission with subpoena power had been appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder.

Still, the senator said he's interested in the federal review.

"I want to see (EPA's findings)," he said. "I'm hoping it's thorough and of value."

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