New lead rules Michigan instated in 2018 following the Flint water crisis were heralded as the nation’s strictest, but lax enforcement and flaws in testing protocols are making the state’s drinking water appear safer than it likely is, a Planet Detroit and HuffPost analysis of state records finds. Public health advocates say some of the most at-risk water systems are not following a key provision that requires systems that exceed lead limits to check water from lead pipes in follow-up testing. The systems are instead checking water from pipes made of a different or unknown material. That makes their lead levels look lower than they may actually be, and allows officials to legally claim that the water is safe to drink. “It’s giving residents a false sense of confidence in their water quality,” said Elin Betanzo, a former Environmental Protection Agency scientist who now runs the Michigan-based clean water advocacy group Safe Water Engineering. Moreover, public health advocates say the state’s newly implemented Lead and Copper Rule requires water systems to check too few pipes, and annual testing is too infrequent, to give a realistic picture of lead hazards ? releases are unpredictable, and dangerous amounts of particles can leach at any time. State records also show that some municipalities still don’t know what materials 90% of their service lines are made of. And because 10% of a system’s results must exceed limits before follow-up testing is triggered, some pipes releasing lead levels that are considered dangerous to human health have resulted in little action. The problems have created a “disconnect between what we measure, what conclusions we draw and the messaging we deliver,” said Yanna Lambrinidou, a Virginia Tech professor and activist for the Campaign for Lead Free Water. “At the end of the day, people want to know that their water is safe to drink and cook with ... but even if we found an ideal formula or... |