In Flint’s wake, EPA to study water in U.S.
WASHINGTON — The public health crisis caused by high lead levels in Flint’s water and the toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie in recent years are among the threats being cited by federal environmental officials who called for a comprehensive look at how to better protect the nation’s drinking water Tuesday.
In a blog post, Joel Beauvais, deputy assistant administrator for the Office of Water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, announced the effort, saying: “As a country, we can and must do more to make sure that every American has access to safe drinking water.”
Beauvais said that beginning in May, the EPA will start meeting with state officials, utility managers and others to develop what he called “a national action plan on drinking water,” to be released by year’s end. Beauvais said the plan is likely to include program changes that the EPA, states and utilities can implement on their own, as well as helping to “inform the priorities of an incoming administration.”
He said the effort is expected to include plans for strengthening the Safe Drinking Water Act; ensuring the federal Lead and Copper Rule is followed; prioritizing work on water infrastructure in low-income communities; and addressing threats posed by new and unregulated contaminants.
While the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has taken most of the blame for the situation in Flint, which was caused by not requiring corrosion controls when the city changed water sources in 2014, the EPA also has been criticized for not moving quickly enough once it knew about the situation in Flint to ensure federal safe drinking water laws were enforced.
“The crisis in Flint has brought to the forefront the challenges many communities across the country are facing, including from lead pipes that carry their drinking water and uneven publicly available information around drinking water quality,” Beauvais said. “At the same time, as new technology advances our detection ability, we’re detecting new contaminants in our water from industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals and other sources that can pose risks to public health.”
He also noted the pressures brought on the nation’s water supply by climate change, which can lead to droughts across the country, as well as pollutants feeding into bodies of water that have led to incidents like the toxic algae blooms seen in Lake Erie the last two summers. One of those, in 2014, led to 400,000 people in Ohio and southeastern Michigan being unable to use tap water for two days.
The situation in Flint has resulted in the loudest calls for more action, especially as it regards compliance with — and a long-awaited revision to — the federal Lead and Copper Rule, which critics say does not go far enough in ensuring safe drinking water. In the wake of the Flint crisis, the EPA already has directed its staff to meet with officials in every state to ensure the lead rules are being followed.
Beauvais noted that Congress and the states will have a big role to play, too, with data showing “at least” $384 billion in improvements will be needed over the next 14 years “to maintain, upgrade and replace thousands of miles of pipe and thousands of treatment plants, storage tanks and water distribution systems that make up our country’s water infrastructure.”