Nine years later, EPA lifts emergency order on Flint's drinking water

Yahoo

19-05-2025

Flint water plant | Susan J. Demas
The United States Environmental Protection Agency on Monday lifted its emergency order on drinking water in the City of Flint, with agency Director Lee Zeldin announcing the city had met all the requirements outlined in the order.
'EPA has been working closely with our state and local partners in Flint, Michigan for several years to restore safe drinking water. It's been a long, arduous journey, but significant progress has been made over the last decade to revitalize their water infrastructure and ultimately achieve this goal,' Zeldin said in a video posted to YouTube.
With water sampling placing the city in compliance with Safe Drinking Water Act Standards, and the city replacing over 97% of its lead pipes carrying water to homes, the end of the order will place the city under the normal obligations of the Act, Zeldin said.
'Our message to the residents of Flint, Michigan is simple. EPA will work with all other levels of Government to do its part to ensure your community has safe drinking water for decades to come. We will continue to be a partner to provide technical assistance to the city and state as efforts continue to maintain and upgrade water infrastructure,' he said.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, or EGLE, similarly voiced its commitment to ensuring Flint residents have access to safe water.
'Through the dedicated efforts of the state and our strong partnership with the City of Flint, we've made remarkable progress, replacing the vast majority of lead service lines and ensuring Flint's water meets stringent safety standards. Working with the city to ensure the complete removal of all lead service lines remains a top priority,' EGLE spokesman Scott Dean said in an email.
The Flint water crisis began in April 2014 when the city of Flint switched its water source from Detroit-supplied Lake Huron water to the Flint River, and failed to treat the water with corrosion control leading to pipes leaching lead into the city's water alongside other contaminants.
At least 12 people died as a result of the water crisis, with Genesee County Circuit Court Chief Judge David J. Newblatt eventually giving final approval to a settlement ordering the state to pay $600 million to residents and property owners whose water was contaminated. The city of Flint was also ordered to pay $20 million, McLaren Regional Medical Center was ordered to pay $5 million and Rowe Professional Services was required to pay $1.25 million.
According to EGLE, Flint has met state and federal lead in drinking water standards for 18 consecutive monitoring periods with the latest round of monitoring noting that samples for the 90th percentile came in at 3 parts per billion below the federal requirement of 15 ppb.
'This moment is about the people of Flint—about their voices, their strength, and their determination,' Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley said in a statement. 'For nearly a decade, we have worked tirelessly to restore trust and integrity to our water system, as well as meeting rigorous standards. While this milestone marks progress, our commitment to clean, safe drinking water remains unwavering. We will continue to advance infrastructure, strengthen safeguards, and ensure that the mistakes of the past are never repeated. Flint families deserve nothing less.'
However, Flint Water Activist Melissa Mays said the announcement came as a complete shock, telling the Michigan Advance there are still deficiencies in the City's water system and plenty of lead lines in need of replacement.
While community members planned to gather Tuesday night to celebrate community members who successfully held the City accountable in progressing on its court-ordered lead pipe replacement program, Mays said while a celebratory announcement from the EPA was expected, Monday's message was not.
'Did we expect for them to bail before the work is done? No, no, that was a shock,' she said.
'That being said, looking at what this current administration is doing, yeah, the environment and people's public health and safety, clean safe water are not priorities. They're the opposite, apparently,' Mays said.
While the city still struggles with rupturing water mains and residents continue to face issues with discolored, foul-smelling water, people cannot be expected to trust the infrastructure, Mays said, raising further concerns about where the EPA's decision leaves Flint and other communities as Congressional Republicans work to repeal updated limits on lead in water.
'It is infuriating that the EPA still hasn't even settled our civil cases yet, and the civil cases are based on the EPA not acting, not stepping in, not forcing the city and state to do the right thing. And here they're doing that exact same thing,' Mays said.
While a federal judge ruled in February that Flint residents' case against the agency can move forward despite the EPA's arguments that it should be immune, the agency hasn't signaled that it's willing to settle, Mays said.
'That recourse of, 'hey, if the city messes up, you go to the state. If the state messes up, you go to the federal government.' We don't have that anymore. They're just like, 'well, you're on your own, and we're leaving you with the people responsible for causing the Flint water crisis,'' Mays said.
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