EPA To Boost Oversight After Flint. What Can Utilities Expect?

The U.S. EPA sent a letters to governors and water regulators last month pledging to increase oversight of state water programs.

“The EPA's Office of Water is increasing oversight of state programs to identify and address any deficiencies in current implementation of the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR),” said the letter from Joel Beauvais, deputy assistant administrator.

“EPA staff are meeting with every state drinking water program across the country to ensure that states are taking appropriate actions to address lead action level exceedances, including optimizing corrosion control, providing effective public health communication and outreach to residents on steps to reduce exposures to lead, and removing lead service lines where required by the LCR,” the letter continued.

The agency sent out two letters in the last week of February, including one from Beauvais to state water regulators, and one from EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy to governors in every state, the Detroit Free Press reported.

“I ask that you encourage your state agency to give this effort the highest priority, consistent with our shared commitment and partnership to address lead risks,” McCarthy said in one of the governor letters, per the Associated Press.

What can water utilities expect in the wake of these messages?

“The letters seemed indicative of more stringent oversight on the way, as state regulators were urged to ensure that strict sampling protocols were used and guidance for identifying so-called ‘Tier 1’ sites — those where the worst potential problems with lead could lurk — were made public,” the Free Press reported.

“In addition to double-checking their procedures for treatment and sampling, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said states should bolster confidence in public water systems by making information such as lead and copper testing results and the location of lead water pipes available online,” the Associated Press reported.

Flint was thrust into the national news this year when the governor declared a state of emergency over a lead contamination crisis that is taking a toll on public health. Everything from lead contamination to disinfectant byproducts have plagued the supply since the city switched from Detroit water and began drinking Flint River water two years ago. One study “found elevated lead blood levels — surpassing 5 micrograms per deciliter — in 4 percent of Flint youngsters,” Think Progress reported.

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