can flint michigan happen here? – understanding our water ... · lead in the water system...

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Water Issues and Cross-Connection Problems in the United States and Beyond

Presented By: Sean Cleary

IAPMO Backflow Prevention Institute

What is Potable Water?

• Water that is safe to drink

• Water that is pleasing appearance

and odor

• Water that has a pleasant taste

• It is not pure water

• It is not distilled water

IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute

How Much Potable Water is Available?

• Less than three percent of the water on our planet is considered potable water that is safe to drink.

• Of that three percent, almost half is frozen into the worlds existing glaciers.


As the World Population Grow More Potable Water is Needed


Water is Being Wasted

The United States

suffers about 240,000

water main breaks

annually and the

country loses

approximately 6 billion

gallons a day, enough

water to supply the

entire state of

California.


Clean Safe Drinking Water is a Basic Human Right

According to the World

Health Organization the

lack of access to clean

water and sanitation

kills children at a rate

equivalent of a jumbo

jet crashing every ten

hours.

Water should never be

wasted.


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Who Has Jurisdiction in Requiring the Protection of our Water Systems?

• Is it the Federal Government?

• Is it the State Government?

• Is it the Water Supplier?

• Is it the Local Health Department?

• Is it another agency?

• Is it no one?


The Safe Drinking Water Act

• In the 1970’s it became clear to many that pollution of our environment was becoming an large issue

• The US EPA was created

• The Clean Water Act was passed

• The Safe Drinking Water Act was passed

• The clean up began and awareness of the importance of pollution control was heightened



• Amendments were made in 1986 which included increased monitoring for unregulated contaminants, greater enforcement standards, increased protection of wellheads, and changes to the lead-content of plumbing materials including prohibiting use of lead solders, flux and pipes in new installations and repairs of public water systems and drinking water plumbing connected to such systems. A warning was required on any solder containing more than .2 percent lead.



• Originally, SDWA focused primarily on treatment as the means of providing safe drinking water at the tap. The 1996 amendments greatly enhanced the existing law by recognizing source water protection, operator training, funding for water system improvements, and public information as important components of safe drinking water. This approach ensures the quality of drinking water by protecting it from source to tap.



• The United States Congress has revised the definition of “lead free” in the Safe Drinking Water Act with respect to the wetted surfaces of pipes, pipe fittings, plumbing fittings, and fixtures. As of the effective date of January 4, 2014, all pipes, pipe fittings, plumbing fitting, and fixtures must meet a 0.25% weighted average lead content. The Congressional Act was dated January 5, 2010 and was signed into law by President Barack Obama on January 4, 2011 with the effective date of January 4, 2014.



• The most direct oversight of water systems is conducted by state drinking water programs. States can apply to US EPA for “primacy,” the authority to implement SDWA within their jurisdictions, if they can show that they will adopt standards at least as stringent as US EPA’s and make sure water systems meet these standards. All states and territories, except Wyoming and the District of Columbia, have received primacy.


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Ground Zero of Water Issues


Flint Water Issues


Potable Water?


Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act

•The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has primary enforcement authority in Michigan for the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act under the legislative authority of the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act.


Lead in the History of Plumbing

•The word plumber or plumbing actually comes from the Roman times. The Latin word for lead is plumbum. In the Roman times, plumbers were actually those who worked with lead, which was used on water supply and drain piping. Plumbers were considered an expert working with the material lead, or a plumbarius.


The Affects of Lead on Humans

• Too much lead can damage various systems of the body. Lead is especially harmful to the developing brains of fetuses and young children and to pregnant women. High blood lead levels in children can cause consequences which may be irreversible including learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and mental retardation. At very high levels, lead can cause convulsions, coma and death.


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Lead in the Water System

• Some major U.S. cities still have lead piping bringing water from the utilities to consumers. The dissolved oxygen in the water combines with the metal at the surface (copper, zinc or lead) to form a metal oxide. This oxidation layer develops through time to coat lead piping.


Roman Times Lead Water Piping


Lead Water Service


Lead to Brass Wipe Joint


Is There a Weak Link in Your System?



• It is essential to the nation's health that lead piping systems be upgraded, a task estimated by the EPA in 2003 to cost $276.8 billion and take more than 20 years achieve. For now the best protection for the U.S. public is the ongoing testing and monitoring of what makes up our drinking water. We need to know the amount of lead and other minerals that actually leach into the water. That imformation is critical.


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• Utilities at times add lime or other chemicals to prevent lead from getting into drinking water. When water chemistry is controlled, it prevents dangerous levels of lead from entering the water system from the lead supply or service piping.

• Nearly all homes built prior to the 1980’s still have lead solder connecting copper pipes.


What Happened in Flint?

• To put it simply each and every branch of government failed in it responsibility.

• Local, State, and Federal elected and appointed officials failed in protecting the public. There employees also share in the blame for this totally preventable situation.

• It is now the time to fix the situation and ensure it cannot happen again.


What Created the Problem?

• The short answer is Money.

• In a cost saving move the city switched from purchasing water from the Detroit Water System, now known as the Great Lakes Water Authority which takes its water from Lake Huron to using water from the Flint River.

• This occurred in April of 2014. This is when things begin to fall apart.


Flint River


Who Was In Charge of Flint?

• Since 2011 the Flint had four different state appointed Emergency Managers.

• Each one played a part in these decisions.

• The Mayor and City Council also played a part in the switch although the final decision rested with the state and its appointed Emergency Manager.


The Players

• Karegnondi Water Authority (KWA). This group was building a new pipeline from Lake Huron to Flint. It was formed in 2011.

• Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD). The Group who has supplied water to Flint since 1967.

• The water switch from DWSD was to be a temporary measure until the KWA Pipeline was finished in 2016.


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Was the Switch a Bad Idea?

• The idea was to make a long term switch from DWSD to the KWA pipeline. That made sense and although never completed would have provided good quality water to Flint.

• The short term solution to switch to the Flint River was a mistake that will end the careers of a number of individuals including the current Governor of Michigan.

• The Failure to address the issue of water quality will send a number of individuals to prison.


The Beginning?

• April 2014: In an effort to save money, Flint begins drawing water from the Flint River instead of relying on water from Detroit. The move is considered temporary while the city waits to connect to a new regional water system. Residents immediately complain about the smell, taste and appearance of the water, and raise health concerns, reporting rashes, hair loss and other problems.


Timeline to Disaster

• Switch was made in April 2014.

• Problems begin within days of the change.

• The water smelled like rotten eggs, a number of boil advisory's were issues by the Flint Water Department.

• In Early 2015 lead issues became clear.

• In June and July 2015 reports were released about the lead issue in the local and national media.


Timeline to Disaster

• In October 2015 the water supply was switched back to the DWSD supply but the cover up continued.

• January 5th 2016 Governor Snyder declares a State of Emergency and the Crisis becomes a National Story.

• The damage is done and a cost saving move will now cost hundreds of millions of dollars.


National Guard Handing Out Water


The Finger Pointing Begins


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Were the Lead Water Services the Issue?

• The short answer is no. Although lead services should always be replaced as soon as possible they did not create the crisis.

• The removal of the biofilm in the lead piping as a result of poor water treatment is the major issue.

• The water quality was so bad the GM had to switch its water supply for the Flint system in order to stop problems with corrosion in its Flint Motor Facility.


Arrests Have Been Made

• 15 Individuals Have Been Arrested.

• 13 of the Individuals if convicted face serious jail time

• Two individuals have plead guilty and are working with the federal, state, and local officials.

• Hundreds of Millions of Dollars Have Been Spent.

• Careers Have Been Destroyed.

• The Public Trust Has Been Lost.

• The Lives and Health of Thousands of Citizens Have Been Forever Altered.


Updates

•On June 14, Bill Schuette the Attorney General for the State of Michigan announced a new round of charges being filed against local and state officials, officers, and employees.

• In the most serious charges leveled to date five individuals have been charged with involuntary manslaughter.


Updates

•The charges are related to a seventeen month legionnaires disease outbreak which occurred in 2014 and 2015. This outbreak resulted in the deaths of twelve people.

•Dozens more were stricken with the illness.


Updates

•Nick Lyon the director of the state Department of Health and Human Services has been charged with several felonies including misconduct in office and involuntary manslaughter. The departments chief medical executive, Dr. Eden Wells is charged with obstruction of justice and lying to a police officer.


Updates

• Four others previously arrested are now charged with involuntary manslaughter. These include Darnell Earley, Flint’s former state emergency manager, Howard Croft, Flint’s former Water Department manager, Liane Shekter-Smith, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s drinking water chief, and Stephen Busch, district supervisor for the Office of Drinking Water.


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Michigan’s Attorney General

• Part arrogance, part viewing people in Flint as expendable.

• "The victims are real people, families who have been lied to by government officials and been treated as expendable," "But when our investigation is completed and our prosecutions are successful -- and we believe they will be --then accountability and justice will be delivered to families of Flint and families of Michigan."


But It’s Not The End

•Aug. 14 2017: A federal emergency declaration over Flint's lead-tainted water crisis ends, but state officials say work continues to fix the drinking water system and provide services to city residents.


Was Any Money Saved?

• The answer is NO

• Piping replacement and related cost continue to rise

• Lawsuits and settlements will cost millions of dollars

• The related health costs for hundreds of effected children will continue throughout their lives

• Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette's wide-ranging probe into the Flint water crisis has cost more than $5 million as of the end of 2017.


The Future in Flint?

• This is a road back to restoring faith and confidence in all Michigan families in their government," state Attorney General Bill Schuette said in announcing the first criminal charges to come out of the disaster, which he blamed on a series of bad decisions by bureaucrats and political leaders.

• He warned there will be more charges — "That I can guarantee" "No one is off the table."


What Will Be the Final Cost?

•To simply replace the lead services may cost up to a billion dollars.

•The total cost to replace all lead services nationwide could cost hundreds of billions dollars nationwide to upgrade water systems as a result of the awareness of what happened in Flint, Michigan.


Where Are We Today in Flint?

• Flint Public Schools Are Still Using Bottle Water

• As of December 13, 2017 6200 Water Services Have Been Replaced

• The City Is Committed To Replace 18,000 Services By The End Of 2020

• Class Action Lawsuits Are Moving Through Both State And Federal Courts

• Public Trust In Both City And State Officials Remains Scarce to Non-Existant


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Can It Happen in Elsewhere?

•The short answer is that it already has.

•Ohio State environmental officials knew as early as October 2015 that residents of Sebring in Mahoning County in Ohio were drinking water contaminated with lead but did not warn the public, records show.


Sebring, Ohio Issues


Ground Zero


Sebring, Ohio

• The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency sent multiple warnings to the Sebring Water Treatment Plant, demanding that operators there notify the public that tests showed elevated lead levels. The EPA even set a deadline of Nov. 29 to notify customers of the health threat. The Ohio EPA issued an emergency order barring the water-treatment plant's director, James Bates, from working at the plant.

• No warnings were issued, according to the EPA.


Sebring, Ohio

• It wasn't until Jan. 21 2016 four months after they knew of the issue that the Ohio EPA issued a notice of violation to the Sebring Plant, prompting public notification.

• Finally, 8,100 people who get their drinking water from the Sebring public water system learned they were at risk.

• The Ohio EPA issued an emergency order barring the water-treatment plant's director, James Bates, from working at the plant.


Sebring, Ohio

• State EPA spokeswoman Heidi Griesmer said the water-treatment plant gave the EPA incomplete data about its public notifications. Each time the system tested for lead, she said, the plant should have notified users. And, she said, state regulators were too lenient.

• Our field staff was too patient with the village.


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Sebring, Ohio

• Ohio EPA Director Craig Butler has called for the federal government to overhaul its regulations over water-treatment plants.

• Melanie Houston, Director of Water Policy and Environmental Health for the advocacy group Ohio Environmental Council, said it is encouraging that the EPA is taking action. We also think Ohio lawmakers don’t have to wait for stronger federal rules. They can and they should take action.


Corpus Christi, TexasDecember 2016


Battle Lines in the Water Fight



• Corpus Christi has experienced at least four water quality issues in the past 18 months. Between June and September 2015, the city issued two boil water advisories, one after E. coli contamination turned up in water samples and another after chlorine levels dropped in some areas. A third notice came in May 2016, when water in one area tested positive for bacteria, possibly indicating low disinfectant levels.



• Residents of Corpus Christi, Texas, were warned to avoid all contact with tap water after a corrosive industrial chemical leaked into the local water system, forcing schools to close and prompting emergency bottled water deliveries throughout the Gulf Coast City.



• According to city officials, a “back-flow incident” at an industrial complex caused an estimated three to twenty four gallons of a petroleum-based chemical known as Indulin AA-86 was allowed to enter the public water supply.

• The exact ingredients in Indulin AA-86 are not publicly available, but the chemical is considered hazardous by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.


http://koaa.images.worldnow.com/images/12714166_G.jpg

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What Happened in Corpus Christi Texas

• The problem seems to have started with an unprotected chemical holding tank at a facility owned by the Valero corporation but run or managed by a company called Ergon Asphalt and Emulsions Inc.

• Reports point to a backflow problem from the tank into the facility’s internal water system that began a number of days prior to the public notification of the problem.

• According to an Associated Press report employees at the asphalt plant leased to Ergon Asphalt and Emulsions, Inc. first noticed rusty brown water coming from a faucet in the administration building on Nov. 23



• Employees at the facility again noticed water quality issues on December 7, and notified the city. Municipal workers flushed the water line at the site. It was reported that on December 8, Ergon officials were alerted to the problem and asked if their operations were the source of the tainted water.

• On December 12, Valero Energy employees again noticed water quality issues at the facility and again alerted the city. Municipal workers tried on Dec. 13 to locate the source of the tainted water



• . The city cut off water to the plant on Dec. 13, and notified the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality of a possible backflow incident from a chemical tank which maybe impacting the public water system. TCEQ and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency began its investigation.

• . On December 14 at 10:30 am the City of Corpus Christi issued a Do Not Use the Water Advisory to all its customers.



• . TCEQ and the EPA ran into problems in its investigation rather quickly. There were no tests or accepted health standards for the chemical because it's never been found in drinking water before and the exact chemical formula was hidden behind a patent.

• State and Federal Regulators were forced to act using the Community Right to Know Act, which allowed them to obtain this confidential business information on the chemical make up to use in testing the water for traces of the chemical.



• Once the Indulin formula was obtained, technicians in the EPA's laboratories in Houston calibrated their testing machines in a manner to detect slight amounts of the chemical in water.

• . Testing was begun immediately within the City’s system. The City conducted flushing procedures throughout its water system and tests conducted by TCEQ and the EPA showed that the materials in the water system were at acceptable levels. On December 18 the City lifted it’s do not use the water advisory city wide.



• . It is apparent that the problem began on private property, however this facility is served by a municipal water system. The city as the water purveyor has the responsibility to ensure that the proper backflow prevention is installed at the buildings water service connection. The city has the responsibility to ensure that after the protection is installed it is tested and maintained. If it is not the city has the responsibility to disconnect the water service to the facility. The city as the administrator of the building and plumbing code enforcement also has the responsibility to ensure that within the facility, the proper protection is installed, tested, and maintained internally within the facility’s water system to protect the people working within the facility.


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Update to the Corpus Christi Backflow Event

• . The incident has led to widespread reform of the city’s backflow preventer inspection program. Investigations revealed the city did not actively enforce its backflow testing rules, and the city later confirmed more than 4,000 businesses and homes were not in compliance. The City has been working since that time to correct these issues and restore the public faith in the quality of their water supply.


Walkerton, Canada in 2000

• Starting May 13, 2000, many people of the community of about 5,000 people began to simultaneously experience diarrhea, gastrointestinal infections and other symptoms of E. coli infection.

• The Walkerton Public Utilities Commission insisted the water supply was "OK" despite being in possession of laboratory tests that had found evidence of contamination.




• The five people who died directly from drinking the E. coli-contaminated water might have been saved if the Walkerton Public Utilities Commission had admitted to contaminated water sooner, and about 2,500 more became ill.

• During the time of the tragedy, City Water Operator’s denied any wrongdoing and firmly held that the water at Walkerton was safe to drink.



• Both individuals would eventually plead guilty to a charge of common nuisance through a plea bargain. In their plea, they admitted to falsifying reports.

• They were both formally sentenced on December 21, 2004, with one receiving one year in jail and the other nine months of house arrest.


Other Water Issues

• Drought

• Pollution

• Aging systems in many parts of the country

• Funding Issues

• Population Growth

• The push for deregulation

• Climate Change


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Lake Mead


What Have We Learned?

• The United States truly needs to begin updating its water and waste systems.

• What happened in Flint can and will happen in other areas.

• Access to Clean Safe Drinking Water is a Basic Human Right.

• People must be held accountable for their actions and regulations are needed.



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can flint michigan happen here? – understanding our water ... · lead in the water system...

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