Flint Drinking Water Contamination: Lessons for New Mexico Photo - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Flint Drinking Water Contamination: Lessons for New Mexico Photo credit: Dr. Judy Stone Prof. Clifford J. Villa UNM School of Law 3 rd Annual Conf. on Envtl Conditions of the Animas & San Juan Watersheds June 21, 2018 Coeur dAlene
Flint Drinking Water Contamination: Lessons for New Mexico
UNM School of Law 3rd Annual Conf. on Envt’l Conditions of the Animas & San Juan Watersheds June 21, 2018
Photo credit: Dr. Judy Stone
Coeur d’Alene River Basin, Idaho (1998)
Yakima Mercury Response (April 2007)
Animas River (August 2015)
Clifford J. Villa, Gold King Mine Spill: Environmental Law and Legal Protections for Environmental Responders, 2018 UTAH L. REV. ____ (2018).
under Michigan law. State takes control over city via state-appointed Emergency Manager.
“finished” water from Detroit to join new regional water system that will draw water from Lake Huron.
be ready until June 2016 ….
from Detroit’s system to Flint River
health effects
Photo credit: Samuel Wilson, The Flint Journal
after coliform bacteria detected in tap water.
city water, complaining it corrodes car parts.
effects of water on her children, including rashes, hair loss, and abdominal pain, requiring multiple hospitalizations
Photo credit: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press
lead poisoning
http://www.epa.gov/lead
Photo credit: Detroit News One
Bunker Hill Smelter, Idaho (c. 1950)
Blood Lead Levels Associated with Adverse Effects in Different Organ Systems: Children
Harvard Medical School
Decreased Brain Volumes in Adults (19-24 years old) with Greater Childhood Lead Exposure
Cecil et al. PLoS Medicine 2008;5(5):e112
Red/yellow indicate brain regions with significant
volume loss associated with
greater blood lead level in childhood
Relationship of Blood Lead Level and IQ
Lanphear et al. Environ Health Perspect 2005;113:894-899
Blood Lead (µg/dL)
IQ
85 90 95 100 105 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
log-linear model
5 knot restricted spline
Changes in the U.S. Definition of Childhood Lead Poisoning
10 20 30 40 50 60 1960's 1971 1975 1985 1991 2012 Definition of An Elevated Blood Lead Level
Blood Lead (µg/dL)
lead, seven times above EPA action level of 15 ppb.
Region 5 drinking water expert.
Photo credit: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press
“Given the very high lead levels found at one home and the preflushing happening in Flint, I’m worried that the whole town may have much higher lead levels than the … results indicated.”
Photo credit: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press
“Given the very high lead levels found at one home and the preflushing happening in Flint, I’m worried that the whole town may have much higher lead levels than the … results indicated.”
Photo credit: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press
finds 397 ppb lead in drinking water, 26 times above EPA action levels.
Photo credit: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press
A major concern from a public health standpoint is the absence
lead and copper levels in the drinking water. Recent drinking water sample results indicate the presence of high lead results in the drinking water, which is to be expected in a public water system that is not providing corrosion control treatment. The lack of any mitigating treatment for lead is of serious concern for residents that live in homes with lead service lines . . . , which are common throughout the City of Flint.
July 2015: EPA Regional Administrator Susan Hedman writes to Flint’s mayor – “The preliminary draft report should not have been released
July 2015: EPA Regional Administrator Susan Hedman writes to Flint’s mayor – “… When the report has been revised and fully vetted by EPA management, the findings and recommendations will be shared with the City and MDEQ – and MDEQ will be responsible for following up with the City.”
July 2015: EPA Regional Administrator Susan Hedman writes to Flint’s mayor – “… When the report has been revised and fully vetted by EPA management, the findings and recommendations will be shared with the City and MDEQ – and MDEQ will be responsible for following up with the City.”
July 2015: EPA Regional Administrator Susan Hedman writes to Flint’s mayor – “… When the report has been revised and fully vetted by EPA management, the findings and recommendations will be shared with the City and MDEQ – and MDEQ will be responsible for following up with the City.”
July 2015: EPA Regional Administrator Susan Hedman writes to Flint’s mayor – “… When the report has been revised and fully vetted by EPA management, the findings and recommendations will be shared with the City and MDEQ – and MDEQ will be responsible for following up with the City.”
Stephen M. Griffin, Stop Federalism Before It Kills Again: Reflections on Hurricane Katrina, 21 St. JOHN’S J. LEGAL COMMENT 527 (2007)
July 1, 2015
Virginia Tech, reports that corrosiveness
leach into Flint’s drinking water supply.
and other local doctors find high blood-leads in children and urge city to stop using Flint River for drinking water.
Dennis Muchmore, Gov. Rick Snyder’s chief
Flint are taking the very sensitive issue of children’s exposure to lead and . . . trying to shift responsibility to the state.”
residents to stop drinking city water after state epidemiologists validate Dr. Hanna- Attisha’s findings.
water.
Chief of Staff, resigns
Photo credit: Zach Gibson / N.Y. TIMES
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee March 17, 2016
Photo credit: Todd McInturf
U.S. Const., 14th Amendment:
“… nor shall any State . . . deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, … be subjected to discrimination under any program … receiving Federal financial assistance.”
“A recipient shall not use criteria or methods of administering its program which have the effect of subjecting individuals to discrimination because of their race.” 40 C.F.R. § 7.35(b)
“A recipient shall not use criteria or methods of administering its program which have the effect of subjecting individuals to discrimination because of their race.” 40 C.F.R. § 7.35(b)
September 15, 2014
July 19, 2016
42 U.S.C. §§ 300f et seq.
water regulations … shall apply to each public water system in each State. …
42 U.S.C. §§ 300f et seq.
that any public water system … does not comply with any applicable requirement…
42 U.S.C. §§ 300f et seq.
and such public water system and provide such advice and technical assistance … as may be appropriate to bring the system into compliance … by the earliest feasible time.”
42 U.S.C. §§ 300f et seq.
the [EPA’s] notification …, the State has not commenced appropriate enforcement action, the [EPA] shall issue an order …
January 21, 2016
“Any person who tampers with a public water system shall be imprisoned for not more than 20 years….”
TITLE 18 U.S. CODE:
Michael E. Miller, WASHINGTON POST, Feb. 10, 2016
N.Y. TIMES April 21, 2016
http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/29/ us/flint-water-crisis- charges/index.html
July 29, 2016
865 F.3d 391 (6th Cir. 2017)
NRDC, What’s In Your Water? (June 2016)
NRDC, What’s In Your Water? (June 2016)
Miguel Del Toral EPA Region 5
Virginia Tech
Questions?
Cliff Villa UNM School of Law villa@law.unm.edu