A new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council, or NRDC, finds hundreds of thousands of lead service lines remain to be replaced in Michigan.
The NRDC has created a nationwide map of locations for some 9.2 million lead service lines. The map is based on Environmental Protection Agency data.
Cyndi Roper is senior policy advocate with the NRDC.
She said federal data show approximately 340,000 Michiganders get there drinking water through a lead service line and connectors.
“I don’t think it’s a surprise, but it is a travesty,” said Roper.
Roper said Michigan still has a lot of work to do despite the Flint water crisis from a decade ago. Improperly treated water exposed tens of thousands of Flint residents to high levels of lead and other contaminants in their drinking water.
No level of lead is safe to consume.
Flint’s drinking water source has been changed, the city’s municipal water system has seen many upgrades and thousands of lead service lines have been replaced.
Roper gives local Michigan water systems credit for making some progress.
Nationally, local water systems have access to $15 billion in federal funding to replace lead service lines.
The NRDC’s latest report comes as a deadline approaches for the EPA’s new Lead and Copper Rule improvements. The update is expected to be the first major change to the rule in a decade.
