The measure was the product of bipartisan negotiations and would help Flint, Michigan and other states that have emergency water crises, and will be considered by the Senate on a stand-alone basis after it completes action on bipartisan energy reforms.
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On Tuesday, the state said water tests at hundreds of homes show 91 percent were below an important benchmark for lead. McCarthy said that “hopefully, by next month” the EPA will “be able to give people news”. But Flint, McCarthy said, is a bigger, more personal problem because of the impact the drinking water will have on citizens.
State lawmakers are sending $30 million to Flint, but the money covers only a portion of the water bills.
The city of Flint couldn’t rejoin the Detroit water system or lower water rates for residents under the terms of a loan the state issued to Flint’s emergency manager in April 2015, show documents obtained by the Michigan Democratic Party under the state’s Freedom of Information Act and provided to MLive.
Speaking at an event at Harvard University on Monday, McCarthy compared Flint, where lead levels have spiked in local drinking water, to the blowout of an abandoned gold mine in Colorado. The president approved a request to declare Flint in a state of emergency, freeing up $5m in financial assistance.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has acknowledged it failed to require the city’s water treatment plant to add needed corrosion control chemicals when the switch to the Flint River took place.
The agency has been working for years on a proposed update of the rule, which it expects to complete in 2017.
“What happened in Flint is a crisis, but Flint is not alone”, Adler said.
He recommended the agencies work with local water system officials to make sure the public gets prompt notifications about high lead levels in drinking water systems, as well as instructions on dealing with lead risks.
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Snyder spokesman Ari Adler reiterated that the provision was not an outright prohibition and could have been changed with treasurer approval. “Many municipalities across the country could easily become the next Flint and, even if something that large doesn’t occur, it’s likely the current federal lead and copper rule isn’t doing enough to protect every resident of the United States from the dangers present within the lead pipes that are possibly running into their homes”.
