Where else is it?

Over 400 days after the discovery of lead in the drinking water of Flint, Michigan, nothing has been done to clean up the situation.

Is this an aberrational or business as usual?

Finally, there is a CRIMINAL probe of the lead contamination of Flint, Michigan’s water.

A bit scary…

There are national laws regulating municipal water systems – but they are easily avoided.

How do municipalities avoid them?

To ways:

1. Just say it’s “too hard”

2. Be a small town serving less than 3,300 people (or less than 10,000 if you have a good lawyers.)

That’s all it takes.

From the EPA’s own web site…

There are two types of variances:

National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR)

General variances are intended for systems that are not able to comply with a NPDWR due to their source water quality and there is no feasible alternate source of water.

Small system variances are for systems serving 3,300 persons or fewer that cannot afford to comply with a NPDWR (but they may be allowed on a case-by-case basis for systems serving up to 10,000 persons). Small system variances are not allowed for microbial contaminants.