FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 23, 2015
In a letter to the
administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today, the Ecology
Center and Sierra Club today asked the EPA for a formal investigation into how
the EPA and a state agency charged with drinking water safety handled Flint’s
drinking water crisis.
Today’s letter, citing a
communication Wednesday to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy from U.S. Rep. Dan
Kildee (D-Flint), asked McCarthy to conduct a full investigation into the
causes of the water problem in Flint. Flint’s water crisis was triggered by lead
contamination that documents appear to show went unaddressed since the city
switched to the Flint River for drinking water in April, 2014. The groups also joined Kildee is requesting a
full review of EPA oversight of federal drinking water programs it delegated to
the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
“This is about
accountability,” said David Holtz,
Michigan Chapter Chair of Sierra Club. “We need to know what the EPA knew about lead
contamination in Flint and when it knew it and why the state agency charged
with keeping drinking water safe failed to do that in Flint when it appears
that it knew for months there was dangerous lead levels threatening public
health.”
In their letter, Sierra Club
and Ecology Center also asked the EPA to investigate why the wrong water
treatment guidelines were used in Flint and what actions, if any, were taken by
EPA to require proper corrosion controls.
The groups also asked if EPA has conducted any reviews of the Michigan
Department of Environmental Quality’s handling of safe drinking water programs
in Flint.
“Confidence in the safety of
Michigan’s drinking water needs to be restored,” said Mike Garfield, Director of the Ecology
Center. “That can only come after we know exactly what happened in Flint,
why it happened and what measures need to be taken to assure us it won’t happen
again.”
Anne Woiwode,
Sierra Club Michigan Conservation Director,
pointed to a track record at MDEQ of failing to protect the public health and
environment that suggests only an outside investigation will result in getting
the answers the public needs.
“We’ve seen too many times,
whether it’s allowing dangerous levels of air pollution in Detroit, or
permitting the import of radioactive fracking wastes into Michigan, where the
MDEQ is failing in its central mission of protecting the public health and
environment,” said Woiwode. “What
happened to Flint’s drinking water is one of the most serious public
health disasters we’ve seen in Michigan. Children’s health will be impacted for the
rest of their lives because of what happened and the public deserves to know
why.”
##
text of letter follows
October 22, 2015
Ms Gina McCarthy
Administrator
Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue. NW
Washington, DC 20460
Administrator McCarthy:
We are writing to endorse the October 21 request by U.S.
Rep. Dan Kildee that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conduct a
thorough investigation into the causes of the government failure that resulted
in unacceptable lead levels in Flint’s drinking water.
We believe that only a full review will hold those
accountable for decisions regarding proper enforcement of the Safe Drinking
Water Act (SDWA) and the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR). This review should encompass the EPA’s
oversight of state programs delegated to the Michigan Department of
Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and MDEQ’s enforcement of the SDWA, LCR and other
safe drinking water programs.
Moreover, we ask that an EPA review answer the following
questions:
- Was the EPA aware that the MDEQ was using the wrong guidelines under the LCR for a city of Flint’s population?
- Did the EPA notify MDEQ that the city of Flint should add a corrosion control treatment to their drinking water following the switch to the Flint River?
- When did the EPA become aware that the city of Flint was using a lime softening agent as a CCT?
- What actions di the EPA take once they learned MDEQ was not requiring the city of Flint to use a proper CCT?
- Did EPA evaluate the testing guidelines that MDEQ was using in the city of Flint?
- When did the EPA first become aware of the potential elevated lead levels in Flint’s water?
- After becoming aware of the potential elevated levels of lea, was the EPA required to notify anyone? If the EPA is not required to notify anyone, why not?
- Since switching to the Flint River, as EPA verified the city of Flint’s compliance with the LCR themselves?
- Has EPA reviewed MDEQ’s performance in regards to its delegated authority to enforce the LCR and other Safe Drinking Water Act regulations? If not, why hasn’t this occurred?
Sincerely,
David Holtz, Executive Committee Chair Mike Garfield, Director
Sierra Club Michigan Chapter Ecology Center
Anne Woiwode, Conservation Director
Sierra Club Michigan Chapter