9 Questions About the Flint Water Crisis Answered

We recently put out a call to the public to send us what questions still remain about the Flint water crisis following our MLive investigation.

We found that many readers still had unanswered, critical questions.

An MLive reporting team comprised of myself, Ron Fonger and Julie Mack picked nine questions and provided answers below.

The actual questions were edited for style.

1. Does anyone in Flint have water that they do not have to filter?

Answer:  No. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says Flint water customers should not drink water unless it's filtered because it is not considered safe. The agency further advises Flint water customers not to cook or brush teeth with unfiltered water. The EPA also says that bottled water is the safest choice for pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under 6. Bottled water should be used for drinking and preparing food and formula for infants under 1 year old.

2. Once the water is drinkable, will the city reduce water rates back to what they were before the rates were raised by an emergency manager? The reader states Mayor Karen Weaver as been silent on the issue.

Answer:  MLive asked the office of Flint Mayor Karen Weaver for comment but received no reply. The authority to lower or raise water rates rests with the mayor to propose and the Flint City Council to enact. Any action also requires the approval of the state Receivership Transition Advisory Board, which was appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder last year.

3. Why didn't Flint ever declare bankruptcy and have the courts figure out the best way forward?

Answer:  Flint's financial struggles are nothing new. Fueled by a loss of half of its population and a steep drop in property values, the problems continue today.
Despite state findings of financial distress dating back to 2002 when John Engler was governor, the city never filed for bankruptcy.

The current emergency manager law gives cities four choices in rectifying financial emergencies, including Chapter 9 bankruptcy with the governor's approval.

Former emergency manager Darnell Earley said in 2014 that a lawsuit filed against the city by retirees could force the city into bankruptcy. That suit is still pending.

4. What is LAN Engineering's role in the Flint water crisis? Is there an actual report MLive can get to see what they were contracted to do?

Answer:  There were actually multiple contracts and multiple reports involvingLAN, an international engineering consultant firm based in Houston.

Here's what we know:

LAN was initially given a $171,000 contract by Ed Kurtz, then Flint's emergency manager, in June 2013 to help upgrade Flint's water treatment plant in preparation for the move away from Detroit water.

In November 2013, Darnell Earley, Kurtz's successor, increased the LAN contract to $1.1 million. Under the new contract, LAN agreed to provide additional services, including final design work on the treatment plant upgrades, construction engineering and "necessary regulatory submittals to operate the water plant off the river until the KWA water source is completed."

In fact, it was LAN consultants who developed the treatment plan that was submitted to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality before the switch to Flint River water occurred in spring 2014. That plan included corrosion control, according to Howard Croft, then Flint's director of public works, and Mike Glasgow, Flint's water safety supervisor.

The need for corrosion control was taken out by DEQ, and that omission was not questioned by Glasgow or LAN, Glasgow told MLive.

Members of the Flint Water Advisory Task Force said it is unclear why LAN's consultants didn't insist on corrosion control, but said it was clear they were relying on the expertise of the DEQ.

A December 2014 report by LAN referenced the lack of corrosion control:

"The decision was made by the City not to feed soda ash in order to remove non-carbonate hardness because acceptable hardness levels could be achieved with lime feed only and softening is short term until Lake Huron water becomes available."

When Flint finally added corrosion control in fall 2015, it was a LAN consultant who developed the specifications and submitted them to the DEQ.

LAN declined to be interviewed by either the Flint water task force or MLive. A written statement provided to MLive by their public relations reads in part: "Decisions concerning corrosion control were made by the city and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and not by LAN. LAN continues to assist the city of Flint as it addresses the various water issues confronting the city today."

This past November, LAN was given another $907,650 by Flint to cover specific items related to the switch to the KWA pipeline, which is suppose to occur later this year.

LAN is among the plaintiffs in the various lawsuits being filed by those harmed by the Flint water crisis.

5. How long was the Flint River a backup water source? Were there any studies conducted to see of the water was safe to drink or not?

Answer:  During the 47 years that Flint was buying water from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, the Flint River served as a backup source and was tapped a couple times every year just to keep the treatment plant and staff in practice. It seems those tests occurred without major incident.

However, as Flint became increasingly unhappy about its relationship with DSWD,multiple studies were commissioned to consider use of the Flint River on a permanent basis. The most recent studies were done in 2012 and 2013 when Flint was considering whether to join the KWA. The DEQ also was asked to weigh in.

The consensus: The Flint River water could be treated to meet federal and state safety standards, but — no surprise — it presented more challenges than using Lake Huron water.

The DEQ advised against using the Flint River as a permanent drinking water source — the biggest concern being whether the river had enough water to serve the city if a drought occurred and the river levels dropped. But the DEQ did sign off on using the river for the two-year gap between the end of the DWSD contract and hooking into the new KWA pipeline.

Eric Rothstein, a member of the Flint task force and a water utilities expert, told MLive that the real mistake in the Flint water crisis was failure to do proper treatment versus use of the river itself. From a national standpoint, Rothstein said, the Flint River is not a particularly challenging water source — but it required proper treatment and attention to detail that did not happen in Flint.

5. Who were the people attacking Dr. Mona Hasha-Attisha when she was raising the alarm about increased lead levels in children (with a timeline)?

Answer:  Compared to Miguel Del Toral, the EPA lead specialist who first raised the issue of lead with the DEQ, and Virginia Tech scientist Marc Edwards, the criticism of Hanna-Attisha was more muted and short-lived.

Here's a timeline:

Sept. 11, 2015: After reports by Marc Edwards of elevated lead levels in Flint water, Hanna-Attisha convened the Hurley Medical Center Research Team to look into whether lead levels have increased in Flint children. The Michigan health department was contacted and a request was made for results of lead testing in Flint. Hanna-Attisha never got this information from the state, and so she relied on just the tests done through Hurley.

Sept. 21, 2015: Hanna-Attisha presented her findings to the Greater Flint Health Coalition. The group passed a resolution recommending that city of Flint issue a health advisory for the water, warning of lead contamination.

Sept. 22: The Genesee County Medical Society also passed a resolution recommending a health advisory for Flint water.

Sept. 24: With the city and the county health department not taking action on the health advisory recommendations, Hanna-Attisha called a press conference and presented her findings publicly. The state was caught off guard. Dave Murray, a spokesman for the governor at the time, told the media that switching back to Detroit water wouldn't solve the problem. A spokesman for the state health department said their analysis of lead tests was more comprehensive and showed different results than Hanna-Attisha.

Sept. 24-30: Even as they questioned Hanna-Attisha's results publicly, state health department privately scrambled to re-examine their findings. In the process, they discovered several factors that distorted their analysis. First, their analysis included children up to age 16, when Hanna-Attisa concentrated on the group at biggest risk of lead poisoning, which is ages 6 and under. Also, the state results included anybody with a Flint mailing address, which is misleading because it included children who live outside the city and not on the city's water supply. When the state did an analysis by zip code for children age 6 and under, they were able to replicate Hanna-Attisha's results.

Oct. 1: Snyder was told by state health officials that Hanna-Attisha was right about elevated lead levels in Flint children.

Oct. 2: In a press conference unveiling Snyder's initial "action plan," officials acknowledged that state officials confirmed Hanna-Attisha's findings.

Hanna-Attisha has said in multiple interviews that she was called an "unfortunate researcher" after she did Sept. 24 presentation. I can't find that anybody said that publicly, but it could certainly be the case that she was told that privately.

7. When were the three people now charged in connection with the Flint water crisis — Flint employee Michael Glasgow and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality employees Stephen Busch and Michael Prysby — hired?

Answer:  Busch was hired straight into the DEQ in 2000 from college, per his resume. Glasgow started working for the city of Flint in 2005, according to his LinkedIn account. Prysby was hired as a General Engineer with DEQ in 1988, according to a DEQ spokesperson.

8. What does it take to become a certified water plant operator like Glasgow? Educational level? Experience? Just take a test from MDEQ?

Answer:  Like any industry, job paths seem to vary in the world of water.

For instance, JoLisa McDay, Flint's new water plant supervisor, earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and a master's degree in chemistry from Eastern Michigan University.

Here is some information from a recent job posting for a utility plant operator I position for the city of Wyoming.

The duties include operating, maintaining and repairing equipment and machinery, collecting samples, performing tests and completing related work as required, according to the job posting.

The candidate should possess a two-year degree in water treatment technology or a related field. A Michigan F-3 license in water treatment, or the ability to obtain within two years, is required. The salary range for that position is $40,231 to $49,637 per year.

9. A reader was concerned that since Gov. Rick Snyder's office is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act, the governor was releasing only selected emails to the public. The reader asked if MLive could FOIA more of the state emails.

Answer:  Yes. We have and we will continue to submit FOIA requests to offices that are not exempt. We will also continue to push for the lifting of the exemptions that shield the governor's office and the Legislature.

If you have any other questions, leave them in the comment section below and we'll do our best to answer them, either in this post or in future stories.

Source: M Live

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