Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
After Flint Water Crisis, Mich. Gov. Pushes For Replacement Of All Lead Pipes Within 20 Years
The Associated Press: Michigan Wants All Lead Pipes Replaced Within 20 Years
Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration is planning to require the replacement of every underground lead service pipe in Michigan within 20 years while delaying by four years a deadline to implement the nation’s toughest lead limit for drinking water, in the wake of the Flint lead crisis. Under draft rules that environmental regulators want to finalize early next year, Michigan’s “action level” for lead in drinking water would gradually drop to 10 parts per billion by 2024, not 2020 as initially proposed. The current federal threshold of 15 ppb has been criticized by the governor as too weak. (Eggert, 11/29)
The Associated Press: Flint Utilities Official Pleads No Contest In Water Probe
The former utilities director in Flint, Michigan, has pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor in an investigation of the city’s lead-tainted water. (11/28)
And from California -
The Associated Press: Lawsuit Seeks To Block California Desert Water Project
Environmental activists sued Tuesday to halt a plan to pump water from beneath the Mojave Desert and sell it to Southern California cities and counties. The lawsuit takes aim at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for allowing Cadiz Inc. to build a 43-mile pipeline to transfer the water from its desert wells into the Colorado River Aqueduct so it can be sold to water districts. (Jablon, 11/28)
