Officials to Attend EPA Data Summit in Chicago to Review Flint Water Data

 

January 6, 2017

For More Information:
Tiffany Brown, 517-242-1376, brownt22@michigan.gov
Michael Shore, 517-284-6713, shorem2@michigan.gov

Officials to Attend EPA Data Summit in Chicago to Review Flint Water Data
Flint water town hall planned following day to share data with residents

LANSING, MICH.  Officials from the City of Flint, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and Marc Edwards and Virginia Tech researchers, along with other water experts, will meet Tuesday, January 10 at a Data Summit hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Chicago to share and review the most recent Flint water system testing data.

The next day, a Flint water town hall will be held, hosted by Flint Mayor Karen Weaver and supported by the Flint Cares Community Coalition and the State of Michigan, to proactively share testing data, bringing together many of the same subject matter experts who attended the Data Summit in Chicago.  The town hall will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. at the University of Michigan-Flint Northbank Center located at 432 N. Saginaw St. 

The event will be livestreamed at www.abc12.com/livestream and broadcast live on WJRT MeTV on channel 12.2 (Charter TV channel 192 and Comcast TV channel 292) from 6 to 9 p.m. and WJRT ABC TV 12.1 (Charter TV 11 and 782 and Comcast TV 7 and 231) from 7 to 8 p.m.

It was important to share the latest testing data discussed in Chicago regarding the status of the Flint water system with residents, which is why the town hall is being hosted in the city.  The purpose of the town hall is to provide residents with up-to-date information on Flint water system recovery efforts, overall progress and next steps.

The Data Summit in Chicago, which is the third one related to Flint’s water quality, will bring together city, state and federal government agencies, along with researchers and academics who study safety issues in drinking water.  The summit is one of a series of upcoming meetings to discuss Flint water data, and no conclusions are expected from the summit alone.

 “The test results data we take to Chicago on Tuesday should build on the continuous improvement we have seen in recent months,” said George Krisztian, MDEQ Flint Action Plan Coordinator. “At this point, we are still processing late-arriving samples, but so far it is clear that the Flint water system has made significant progress in the past year in terms of water quality.”

Krisztian will be among researchers on Wednesday, January 11, who will present the most recent test results at the Flint water town hall.

Health care professionals will also be in attendance to answer health questions and discuss available heath care resources. 

Last month, MDEQ reported its Extended Sentinel Site testing (www.michigan.gov/deq/0,4561,7-135-3308_3323-399217--,00.html) had shown significant improvement with more than 96 percent of samples at or below the 15 parts per billion (PPB) federal action level. It was the sixth consecutive time the results have been in compliance with federal rules.

Test results for the full 6-month water quality monitoring period that ended Dec. 31, 2016 will be submitted to the EPA next week for further review, as well.

 

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