Flint to issue lead in water warning
after push from doctors, health officials
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FLINT WATER
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FLINT, MI -- The city of Flint is expected to advise its water customers on ways to
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minimize exposure to lead in water -- particularly for children -- after a group
that includes doctors and health officials strongly suggested the step.
Flint Mayor Dayne Walling confirmed the move on Wednesday, Sept. 23, after The Flint
Journal-MLive learned the Greater Flint Health Coalition approved a resolution two days
prior urgently asking the city to issue the advisory.
Representatives of the coalition met privately with Walling and other city officials to
express their concerns about the safety of Flint water, and issued a statement saying "not
enough was being done to alert the public to potential risks of consuming Flint city water
that could lead to elevated levels of lead.”
Walling's statement said the city "will be issuing an advisory” on the matter "in
cooperation with health partners promoting wavs to minimize the exposure to lead such as
flushing pipes when the water has been sitting.” He did not specify when the advisory
would be issued.
Walling, who earlier this month asked Gov. Rick Snyder for $30 million for Flint's
infrastructure, including $10 million to replace lead service lines to homes, said in an
email that he “will continue to pursue funding for a comprehensive healthy homes
initiative that addresses lead in paint and pipes.”
"We have to get the lead out of our community to eliminate the threat of childhood lead
poisoning,” the statement says. "I am extremely concerned to hear from doctors about any
elevated blood lead levels in Flint's children.”
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The Journal could not immediately reach Walling for more information on the concerns
expressed to him by doctors about lead.
Kirk D. Smith, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Flint Health Coalition,
and state Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, the chairman of the group's board of
directors, issued a statement to The Journal about the coalition’s recommendation on
issuing precautions.
"As a coalition of concerned physicians, health care professionals and county leaders, we
are compelled to inform the public when there is a possible threat to their health so they
can fake appropriate precautions and actions to protect themselves and their families,” the
joint statement says.
“At our last meeting and in recent days we have heard from numerous physicians who
shared strong concerns that not enough was being done to alert the public to potential
risks of consuming Flint city water that could lead to elevated levels of lead.”
A resolution approved by the nonprofit coalition's board of directors, which includes
representatives of Flint area hospitals, universities, physicians and unions, comes after
researchers from Virginia Tech University reported their testing here shows a far-reaching
problem with lead in water.
Ten percent of Flint homes tested by Virginia Tech had 25 parts per billion of lead or
more, far more than the allowable level -- 15 ppb -- set in federal guidelines, according to
the university researchers.
City and state officials have said their testing shows Flint's water supply meets all health
and safety regulations, never rising above 11 ppb in more than 10 percent of homes during
the last 16 months, but data from the state Department of Environment Quality
shows lead lev
souree in April 2014.
At the urging of state and federal officials, the city announced three weeks ago that it
would speed up the development of plans aimed at making Flint water less corrosive.
Professor Marc Edwards of Virginia Tech has said treated river water is currently far more
corrosive than water the city had used for decades -- Lake Huron water that was treated
and piped here by the city of Detroit.
Edwards has criticized the city and the state for not having developed a plan for reducing
the corrosiveness of Flint's water because an estimated 15,000 homes in the city have lead
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or lead solder in service lines and plumbing, making the homes much more susceptible to
lead leaching into water.
City Councilman Scott Kincaid, also a member of the GFHC, said he supported the
organization's request for further action -- particularly after physicians raised concerns
about how high lead levels could affect infants and young children.
"I'm supporting the resolution. I think we need to advise people that there is a potential
concern,” Kincaid said. "Lead isn't good for anybody, but the effect on infants" is especially
disturbing.
Although the city has yet to issue its lead advisory, Walling’s mention of allowing water to
flush through pipes is the same advice given by Virginia Tech earlier this month.
Researchers at the university have also recommended that infants not be fed formula
made with unfiltered Flint tap water and that residents who are not flushing water for five
minutes before using it for drinking or cooking should use a filter certified to remove lead.
The Journal eould not reach Dr. Lawrence Reynolds, president and CEO of Mott
Children's Health Center, for comment Wednesday. Other coalition members said
Reynolds led the push for additional, quick action by the city.
Lead is a toxic metal that was used for many years in products found in and around
homes, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Even at low leveis, lead
may cause health effects such as behavioral problems and learning disabilities.
Current regulations for lead in water began in 1992 and require a limited amount of
testing to measure the degree to which lead leaches into tap water after flowing through
lead service lines and lead solder in home plumbing.
Flint has struggled with its water quality since switching to the Flint River as its primary
water souree in April 2014. Previously, the city had purchased water through the city of
Detroit, which got its water from Lake Huron.
Flint was required to step up its testing of water in homes after it shifted to the Flint River,
which is intended to be a temporary move as the city and Genesee County are partners in
building a new water pipeline to Lake Huron through a partnership called the Karegnondi
Water Authority.
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The city has been using -- and Walling and state emergency managers have supported
continuing te use -- the Flint River as a stopgap water source until the KWA pipeline is
expected to be completed in 2016.
In state testing of city water samples, Flint has stayed below the federal threshold for lead,
with less than 10 percent of tap water samples exceeding 15 ppb.
Water systems can be required to take steps like making water less corrosive or replacing
lead service lines if sampling shows such elevated lead levels.
But after the Virginia Tech testing showed lead was much more prevalent than Flint's
testing by the city and DEQ.
Kildee said in a news release Sept. 21 that "the city, DEQ and (U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency) have not adequately answered my questions on their testing methods
to ensure the safety of Flint's water.”
Redait