State reaches voluntary agreement with City of Flint

For Immediate Release:
December 17, 2018

Contact:
Chelsea Lewis, MDEQ Public Information Officer, 517-284-6716
DEQ Media Office, deq-assist@michigan.gov, 517-284-9278

LANSING, Mich. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and the city of Flint today reached a voluntary agreement replacing the order MDEQ issued to the city of Flint on October 22, 2018, under the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act (Order).  The city of Flint had requested a public hearing on the Order, which MDEQ scheduled for December 19, 2018.  The city of Flint has now requested that the public hearing be cancelled in light of the agreement it reached with the MDEQ, which replaces the Order.  According, the public hearing scheduled on December 19, 2018 is now cancelled.

A full copy of the agreement is available on the website.

“DEQ is pleased to reach this agreement with the city of Flint,” said MDEQ director C. Heidi Grether. "Our ongoing cooperation has resulted in Flint’s water quality testing meeting the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act for more than two years, and this agreement will ensure that this progress will continue."

The city of Flint’s water quality has tested well below the federal action level for lead and been meeting requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act since 2016.  The Order, and now the agreement, are intended to ensure that the city of Flint’s water system achieves the goal of long-term self-reliance.