Seems like Michigan learned its lesson on lead exposure after what happened in the city of Flint.
Since 2014, Michigan’s been dealing with the fallout of a water contamination crisis that exposed Flint, a city of nearly 100,000, to drinking water whose lead levels were nearly double the federal action level, which is 15 parts per billion (ppb).
Michigan’s new rule would drop that action level to 12 ppb by 2025.
Under Michigan’s rules, this action level triggers corrosion controls to treat the water and an eventual service line replacement if that doesn’t solve the problem.
“Full lead service line replacement is critical for public health,” said Elin Betanzo, the found of Michigan-based Safe Water Engineering, to Earther.
“[The government] should be replacing the water lines—not just in Flint,” Brown said.
Brown emphasized that even the replacement of all lead service lines doesn’t guarantee safe drinking water.
In Flint, the pipes weren’t exactly the issue.
Brown wants the public to know that line replacement “is a good idea, but that doesn’t mean that you’re done.” “When we are saying there is no safe blood lead level in children, we have to be serious and remove all sources.” It’s also important to note that paint, the main source of lead exposure for children, is something this new rule does not deal with at all.
The way Brown sees it, states (and the federal government) need to deal with all these sources.