Flint: EPA Upholds State Ability to Set Deadlines to Fix Deficiencies in Water System

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver. Photo: Brett Carlsen (Getty Images)

As of Thursday, the people of Flint, Michigan, have gone 1,569 days without a clean and stable water system in their city. The lead service line are in the process of being replaced, and the government keeps telling them that their water is safer now — but the residents remain skeptical.

Through it all, their city and state governments continue to bicker back and forth over who gets to tell who what to do. On May 31, Eric Oswald — director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance Division — sent a letter to Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, putting her on notice that the state would be sending a proposed administrative consent order (ACO) that would require the city to correct 15 water system problems identified by the state in August 2017.

At the time, the problems still had not been resolved, and Oswald asked Weaver to “develop realistic dates the city can achieve to bring your drinking-water system back into compliance.” Weaver bristled at the idea of what she saw as an “unwarranted and unnecessary” intrusion of state oversight over her city’s water system. In June, she hit back with […]

Full article: #Flint: EPA Upholds State Authority to Set Deadlines to Fix Deficiencies in City Water System

Highlights of news from Flint’s water crisis and public health:

Flint Water Crisis Deaths Likely Surpass Official Toll

Watchdog says lack of EPA oversight helped cause ‘catastrophic’ Flint water crisis

Fraudulence in Flint: How Suspect Science Helped Declare the Water Crisis Over

State puts Flint on notice for not fixing water system deficiencies

Flint Activist LeeAnne Walters Wins Major Environmental Prize

ACLU Wants Flint Kids Screened for Impact of Lead

How Privatizing Water Systems Costs Taxpayers — & Endangers Them