black autonomy network community organization
working for economic and social justice in Benton Harbor, MI
Saturday, March 05, 2022
The question is, Is Benton Harbor water safe to drink? Many violations at water facility.
Lead Public Education Violation; According to EPA Order 107.a.
Benton Harbor did not do the following between Febrauary -August 2021
provide statement on water bills stateing the system has found high
levels of lead, etc in violation of 40CFR 141.85 did not contact health
department and deliver public education material in violation of 40 CFR
TIER 2 VIOLATION
Corrision Control violations: According to EGLE Amended order 2.18 Benton
Harborwas required to submit a corrosion control study by 9-30-2020. If a
water system is required to complete a corrosion study, Mich Admin.
Code R. 325. 106 04f(2) (e) required EGLE to make determination within
12 months after the supply exceeds the lead action 1-1-20 and for the
watersystem to complete the study within 12 months of EGEL required study
(1-1-21)
Tier 2 violation
Surface Water Treatment Rule -Monitoring Violations: According to EPA
Order2.4 and EGLE Order108B-C Benton Harbor's continueous chlorine analyzer
at the entry point was down for more than 2 wees and while it was down, the
system was not taking resideual disinfectant concentration grab samples during
after hours in violation of 40CFR 141.74
Tier 3 violation
Surface Water Treatment Rule-Calibration Violations; According to EPA oRDER 108.D-E
Benton Harbor was not calibrating its chlorine analyzers with grab samples every
5 days and was not calibrating its 12 continous turbidity monitors once every 3 months
or after significant maintenance in violation of 40CFR 141.74(a) (2) 40Cfr141.74(c)(1)
Tier 3 Violation
SurfaceWater Treatment Rule-Disinfection Profiling and Benchmarking; According to EPA
order 110.a-c, Benton Harbor failed to maintain a properly functioning meter and
continuous chlorine analyzer which are necessary to calculate the disinfectant residual
contact time in violation of 40 CFR 141.533 and the system made multiple changes to its
chlorine treatment in 2017 but failed to develop disinfection profiles or benchmarks
prior to making the changes in violation of 40 CFR 141.540
Tier 2 violation
The problem is , how many more violations that is not reported? The question is,is the water safe to drink? Would you drink it?
L