Bethel Skinker

Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2015 3:07:23 PM ODWMA is receiving a lot of calls with questions from Flint residents concerned about the safety of their drinking water. If you receive one of these calls, our message should be consistent — the drinking water distributed to city customers currently meets all drinking water standards and is considered safe. However, there is no safe level for lead. The fact that Flint meets the drinking water standard is based on an evaluation of the effectiveness of their treatment system to minimize lead leaching from plumbing materials. Compliance does not mean that under certain conditions that some homeowners may still have water in their domestic plumbing that has leached some lead from lead pipes or lead solder. The only way for a resident to know if they may be exposed to lead leaching from their plumbing system is having a sample from that residence analyzed for lead at a certified laboratory. The DEQ laboratory is not providing that service at no cost. The city of Flint currently is accommodating requests from residents without charging them, but the residents have to go through the city to arrange that sampling, and the city may have a backlog right now. If the caller has a result that indicates lead is present, or in the absence of a result, our advice should be to minimize any stagnation of the water before consumption, even without knowing if they have plumbing that contains lead. You could tell them they can do so by letting a faucet run for a few minutes or until the water is cooler (don’t set a time — it can be so variable) and then use it for drinking or cooking. Please be polite and empathetic if you receive one of these calls. | also want to thank you for the effort you have made to respond to this issue. It is noticed and appreciated. In recognition of your performance, | have arranged for you to receive a 2 percent merit increase starting tomorrow. Richard Richard Benzie, P.E., Chief Field Operations Section Office of Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance, MDEQ 517-284-6512 xxxEND_PAGE:deq02_b317_3546_3546_1

Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2015 3:07:00 PM ODWMA is receiving a lot of calls with questions from Flint residents concerned about the safety of their drinking water. If you receive one of these calls, our message should be consistent — the drinking water distributed to city customers currently meets all drinking water standards and is considered safe. However, there is no safe level for lead. The fact that Flint meets the drinking water standard is based on an evaluation of the effectiveness of their treatment system to minimize lead leaching from plumbing materials. Compliance does not mean that under certain conditions that some homeowners may still have water in their domestic plumbing that has leached some lead from lead pipes or lead solder. The only way for a resident to know if they may be exposed to lead leaching from their plumbing system is having a sample from that residence analyzed for lead at a certified laboratory. The DEQ laboratory is not providing that service at no cost. The city of Flint currently is accommodating requests from residents without charging them, but the residents have to go through the city to arrange that sampling, and the city may have a backlog right now. If the caller has a result that indicates lead is present, or in the absence of a result, our advice should be to minimize any stagnation of the water before consumption, even without knowing if they have plumbing that contains lead. You could tell them they can do so by letting a faucet run for a few minutes or until the water is cooler (don’t set a time — it can be so variable) and then use it for drinking or cooking. Please be polite and empathetic if you receive one of these calls. | also want to thank you for the effort you have made to respond to this issue. It is noticed and appreciated. In recognition of your performance, | have arranged for you to receive a 2 percent merit increase starting tomorrow. Richard Richard Benzie, P.E., Chief Field Operations Section Office of Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance, MDEQ 517-284-6512 xxxEND_PAGE:deq04_b403_4643_4643_1

is this who you talked to earlier?

iknow the connection to Detroit is an old issue, but one of you gets to return this call since Steve ie out this week and Mike won't be back for 10 days.

Date: Tuesday, September 15, 2015 11:23:00 AM | know the connection to Detroit is an old issue, but one of you gets to return this call since Steve is out this week and Mike won’t be back for 10 days.

Great lob Steve and Congratulations! Bethel

Got a phone call from PEAS last night and this email. | tried calling the plant and their emergency number but no one answered. | left a message to call me back, but | haven’t back. | looked at the map and it looks like the spill is downstream of Flint’s WTP. Bethel

Responded to PEAS call this morning...discharge went to Thread Creek and into Flint River about ten miles downstream of Flint WTP intake, thus no impact to the WTP. WRD is to be notified of the release. Sent from my iPhone

Here is the same report as it came in via NRC. PEAS On Call PEAS Hotline: 800-292-4706 Website: Begin forwarded message:

Hi Pat, Here's the information | have for now. Owosso will verify theirs and Keith will get back with me soon. 1) East Lansing - Meridian Water & Sewer Authority WTP Pond # Surface area, acres Volume, cubic yard 4 3 45,000 2 4.125 60,000 3 3 45,000 Note: ELMWSA recycles their backwash water. The plant generates 15,000 cubic yard of sludge/year. 2) Lansing Board of Water and Light - Backwash water and sludge goes into a thickener and into the filter press instead of lagoon/pond. Bethel Skinker, P.E. District Engineer Office of Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance Department of Environmental Quality Phone: 517-335-6127 Fax: 517-241-3571 -----Original Message-----

Mike and Bethel, Brock and | have a meeting off site tomorrow morning but plan to return in time for this meeting. Do we need to discuss anything on the agenda in advance? If so, we will be departing for our meeting about 10 AM.

Mike is on AL and won't be back until Feb. 28. If you need more detailed info in addition to Richard's you are welcome to stop by our office (Lansing District Office, 4th Floor North) and we may be able to provide you with what you need, if you can not wait for Mike. Bethel Skinker, P.E. District Engineer Resource Management Division Department of Environmental Quality 517-335-6127

Bethel, You might want to have Mike update you on this project if you are unfamiliar with it. Mark.

As of today, we have 21 of 63 surveys submitted to Cadmus which met the deadline to have 1/3 submitted by August 18 These 21 surveys are in various stages of review. 5 have been uploaded, meaning they are ready for review and for any possible modifications if you disagree with Cadmus’ determinations. It has been taking about a month from the time | submit them to Cadmus until the information has been uploaded, meaning the status of individual projects are available email address should be your user ID and your password should be just your last name with the first letter capitalized. If you see a project that has not been accepted that you feel should be, call me to discuss before you spend a lot of time attempting to justify it. | may be able to assist or save you the effort. Of the 42 remaining surveys, 7 have been reviewed by district staff and are awaiting my review prior to submitting them to Cadmus. They are Lansing, Michigan American Waterworks Company, Mount Clemens, Northville Township, Plymouth Township, Riverview, and Waterford Township. Some of these surveys have been discussed with district staff and are being further reviewed. | hope to have them all submitted to Cadmus by the end of the week unless | find significant problems. Another 13 surveys have been submitted and distributed to district staff to verify projects, validate documentation, and supplement with additional projects for overlooked needs. These surveys are Midland, Saginaw, Saginaw-Midland, YCUA, Monroe South County, Kalamazoo, Romulus, Macomb Township, St. Clair Shores, Algonac, Port Huron, South Haven, and Southeastern Oakland County Water Authority. If one of these is assigned to you and you don’t have the questionnaire, please let me know ASAP. 6 more surveys are in my office waiting to be distributed to district staff. They are St. Joseph, Mount Pleasant, Flint, Sterling Heights, Shelby Township and Woodhaven. | plan to complete my initial review and distribute them to you by the end of this week as well, although it may be Friday before they get in the mail unless | decide not to review them first. That leaves 16 surveys yet to be submitted by the system, not the least of which is DETROIT. Others include Ann Arbor, Wyoming, Genesee County, East Lansing-Meridian, Warren, Dearborn, Flat Rock, Grosse Pointe Park, Marquette, Grand Ledge, Eaton Rapids, Williamston, Union Township, Brownstown Township, and Fort Gratiot Township. | know many of you have been in contact with these systems and are continuing to pursue completed questionnaires. Please keep tabs on them and if necessary, consider scheduling a surveillance visit to collect the needs of these systems, preferably before September 30", but no later than the month of October. If any of this information sounds wrong to you, please contact me. As always, call if you have any questions or concerns. Richard Benzie, P.E. Community Drinking Water Resource Management Division, DEQ 517-241-1245 xxxEND_PAGE:deq25_b132_1209_1209_1