Very he
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~ On Aug
Ipful, thanks
27, 2015, at 3:14 PM, Wurfel, Brad (DEQ) <
[email protected]> wrote:
Don’t know what it is, but | know what it’s not. The key to lead and copper in drinking
water is that it's not in the source water, or even the transmission lines (most of which
are cast iron). It's in the premise plumbing (people’s homes). The reason statute
requires operators of large systems to test for lead & copper in homes when they switch
sources is because large systems inevitably means old neighborhoods, where there's
likely a lead connection line to the homes or lead pipes in the premise plumbing (or lead
in the solder of copper lines installed before the mid-1990s), and what we're checking
for is whether the Ph of the new source water is mobilizing lead in the pipes.
ironically, the leading fix for it is adding phosphate (ironic because we're fighting to
reduce phosphorus in surface water all over the state, but particularly in the Western
Lake Erie Basin). The phosphate smooths the water and reduces the interaction.
In accordance with statute, we sent Flint a letter early this month saying they passed
muster on the two required rounds of lead and copper tests, but we still want them to
‘optimize’ their system (phosphates). By law, they now have 18 months to create an
optimization plan, and something like two years thereafter to implement that plan. But
they’re going to switch sources again in June / July of next year, which starts the whole
process over again. Such is the wisdom and flexibility of the federal statute ...
This person is the one who had EPA Jead specialist come to her home and do tests,
then released an unvetted draft of his report (hat EPA apologized to us profusely for) to
the resident, who shared it with the ACLU, who promptly used it to continue raising hell
with the locals.
Bottom line is that folks in Flint are upset — because they pay a ton for water and many
of them don’t trust the water they're getting — and they're confused, in no small part
because various groups have worked hard at keeping them confused and upset. We get
it. The state is trying like mad get the word out that we’re working on every aspect of the
health safety of local water that we can manage, and the system needs a lot of work
i
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(because the city didn’t do any discernable maintenance for nearly 40 years and the
transmission lines are falling apart), but it’s been rough sledding with a steady parade of
community groups keeping Bui VOne hopped-up and misinformed.
Tell me what | can do to help you with the Peters’ meeting, or anything else.
b