The EPA directed the City of Benton Harbor, Michigan to take immediate actions to improve the safety and reliability of its drinking water.
City officials previously urged its resident to start drinking bottled water because of chronic problems with lead in the municipal water supply.
“The people of Benton Harbor have suffered for too long," EPA administrator Michael S. Regan said in a press release on Nov. 2. "EPA is fully engaged and working to support the community, and today, we are taking a critical next step to ensure that drinking water is safe and reliable."
Federal regulators asked city officials to make technical improvements to its water treatment plant and to study plans for its long-term operation. The EPA set a schedule for the city and offered assistance in correcting the violations. A joint federal-estate inspection of the water system found violations and deficiencies.
The EPA was able to issue the order under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. According to an EPA press release, the provisions of the order include informing consumers when lead action level exceedances are detected in drinking water, improving the applications of chlorine for disinfection and orthophosphate for corrosion control, implementing stricter requirements for better monitoring of residual disinfectants and its byproducts, making filter repairs at the treatment plant and using an independent third-party to conduct an analysis of alternatives for the long-term operation and maintenance of the system. The order is unilateral and is considered "critical" by the EPA.
