Correspondence among

Date: Friday, November 06, 2015 3:05:48 PM | do not have any of these records

Date: Thursday, November 05, 2015 4:55:48 PM Per my discussion with Liane Shekter Smith, ODWMA would have the responsive records and she indicated that the Director and | would not have any information pertaining to the technical issues that they are asking for. Therefore, to the best of my technical knowledge, | do not have anything that pertains to this specific FOIA request. Thank you. Mary Beth Mary Beth Thelen Management Assistant to Director Dan Wyant Department of Environmental Quality Constitution Hall, 6th Floor South Phone: 517-284-6712 or 284-6700 (new numbers) Fax: 517-241-7401 [email protected]

oO please let me know whether or not you have responsive records for the request. If you do have records, I'll need an estimate of the number of pages and how much time you spent searching for the records. Thanks!

By Wednesday November 4 please let me know whether or not you have responsive records for the attached FOIA request regarding Flint water. If you do have records, I'll need an estimate of the number of pages and how much time you spent searching for the records. Thanks!

FYI only, as Susan Vorce said this FOIA was actually assigned only to ODWMA and Lansing District.

Here are the documents Dan provided to the Legislature today. Heather Feuerstein Management Assistant to Maggie Pallone, Deputy Director and Brad Wurfel, Communications Director Department of Environmental Quality 517.284.6715 xxxEND_PAGE:deq16_b3_0014_0687_073 Chemical testing could have predicted Flint's water crisis Page 1 of 5 Chemical testing could have predicted Flint's water crisis By John Wisely and By Robin Erb, Detroit Free Press| 7:14 a.m. EDT October 11, 2015 Chemical tests could have predicted the corrosion in the pipes that is now being blamed for endangering the health of thousands of vulnerable Flint residents by elevating lead levels in their water supply, experts say. As the city scrambles to reconnect fo the Detroit water system, the absence of such testing on the Flint River water is one of many missed opportunities that might have lessened or avoided the crisis, they say. “Any competent person should have seen this water will eat up iron and eat up lead,” Marc Edwards, a Virginia (Photo: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Tech professor and national expert on pipe corrosion, told the Free Press. Edwards said his own research Press) shows that Flint River water, without additional controls, corrodes the lead inside pipes at 19 times the rate of water piped from Detroit. DETROIT FREE PRESS Why are lead levels in children higher in 2 Flint ZIP codes? http://www basics/73683934/) Among red flags that popped up over the last 18 months: * General Motors announced in October 2014 that it was pulling its engine plant off Flint water after workers there began noticing rust spots on newly machined parts. The city approved letting GM switch to water from Flint Township, but didn't change its own water treatment procedures. * The University of Michigan-Flint alerted city officials that it found elevated lead levels in its water in January, prompting the school to shut off some some drinking fountains and add water filters to others. * Testing in the fall of 2014 found E. coli in the city's water system, prompting "boil water" notices. The city's procedures for killing the E. coli produced chemical by-products known as trihalomethanes, which can cause cancer with long-term exposure. The city had to adopt additional measures to reduce them. “Common sense tells you that the Flint River is not your first choice of drinking water,” said Shawn McElmurry, who teaches civil and environmental engineering at Wayne State University and has followed Flint closely. DETROIT FREE PRESS O&A onFiint's water troubles Ht ga/73693500/) Experts say the testing could have been done before the switch from the Detroit system. But officials from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality note that that kind of testing isn’t required under federal drinking-water rules and has never been done in Michigan. What's more, they said, the Flint River water, treated in the city’s plant, was already approved as a backup supply in case of interrupted service from Detroit. Other experts said the testing is more nuanced, part art and part science. Still, they acknowledge that by examining things such as the acidity of water and other factors, engineers could have estimated how much corrosion fo expect once water from the Flint River was pumped into homes and businesses across the city. “Not every engineer in our field could do it, it's a pretty specialized area," said David Cormwell, a Virginia-based engineering consultant and a technical adviser to the National Drinking Water Advisory Council, a group of experts that works with the Environmental Protection Agency on drinking water issues. DETROIT FREE PRESS Flint doctor makes state see light about lead in water 10/12/2015 xxxEND_PAGE:deq16_b3_0014_0687_074 Chemical testing could have predicted Flint's water crisis Page 2 of 5 Ht profile/73600120) The fix now will cost $12 million — a combination of money from the state, the city and the Flint-based non-profit C.S. Mott Foundation, which has pledged $4 million to help pay Detroit for the water while Flint waits to connect to a new water authority in partnership with Genesee County. Water woes began shortly after switch from Detroit Flint began using Flint River water as its main supply in April 2014. Before that, it bought Lake Huron water that was treated and delivered by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. Detroit ended that deal one day after Flint voted to join Genesee County in forming the Karegnondi Water Authority, which plans to build its own Lake Huron intake and pipe the water to the Flint Water Plant. Flint officials wanted to remain on Detroit's system, but the two sides couldn't agree on a price and a contract length. Once the switch to river water was made, the city, which was operating under a state-appointed emergency financial manager, faced one problem after another. Residents packed city council meetings and held protest marches to voice their anger about water quality. Experts say Flint's lead problems could have been held in check if the city had added phosphates to the water, as Detroit has done for years. The treatment doesn't eliminate lead entirely, but it does form a film over the pipes themselves, effectively sealing in the lead and reducing the amount in the water to acceptable levels. But when Flint switched to river water, it didn't add phosphates. Instead it added lime to soften the water. “The lime softening process has the added benefit of some corrosion control,” said Liane Smith, chief of Michigan’s Office of Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance. Smith said that once the switch was made, the state began testing for lead and copper, as is required by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. “Any new supply that comes along has to do two six-month rounds of monitoring for lead and copper out in their distribution system,” Smith said. If those tests show corrosion, additional steps, such as perhaps adding phosphates, are supposed to be followed. The first round of testing completed in December 2014 showed lead levels of 6 parts per billion. The second round, completed in June of this year, showed they had almost doubled to 11 parts per billion. The EPA requires a remediation plan when levels reach 15 parts per billion and can demand action even below that mark on systems that serve more than 50,000 people. Cornwell said phosphates are considered more effective than lime softening and they don't raise treatment costs substantially. But they have side effects, he said. “The negative is that nobody really likes phosphates out in the environment,” he said, noting they can find their way into rivers and lakes, fueling algae blooms such as the ones in Lake Erie. “There is more to it than saying we're just going to pump phosphates,” Cornwell said. “You may have to make other adjustments.” 10/12/2015 xxxEND_PAGE:deq16_b3_0014_0687_075 Chemical testing could have predicted Flint's water crisis Page 3 of 5 SESS Aman crosses a bridge over the Flint River near the Hamilton Dam in downtown Flint on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015. Flint has been getting its drinking water from the river since last year. (Phofo: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press) Flint River water a challenge to clean up Flint River water was always going to pose more treatment challenges than the cold, clear water that comes from the bottom of Lake Huron, experts said. The river has been marked by decades of industrial pollution. Its tributaries channel farmland run-off into it and its temperature varies by season. Warmer water can promote bacteria growth. All of those factors make treating it to drinking-water standards more difficult. "The city was doing the best it could” to clean up pollutants, Edwards said, but added that corrosivity was inevitable. He blamed the problems on a lack of expertise rather than intentional wrongdoing. “| think it started relatively innocently. They didn’t understand testing and they didn’t understand corrosivity,” he said. Last month, Edwards' research group released results of corrosion tests it conducted on Flint's water. For the test, researchers used copper pipe with lead solder, which is common in older homes. The tests showed Flint River water without added phosphates corroded the lead at 19 times the rate of Detroit water. Even when phosphates were added, it corroded at 16 times the rate of the Detroit water.

Issued By Friday, October 23, please let me know whether or not you have responsive records for the attached FOIA request regarding Flint water. If you do have records, I'll need an estimate of the number of pages and how much time you spent searching for the records. Thanks!