|
| Author
|
Post |
 
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
FLINT NEWS
State has 'significant concern' with some of Flint's pipe replacements
Updated Jun 1, 5:50 PM; Posted Jun 1, 3:47 PM
By Ron Fonger rfonger1@mlive.com
FLINT, MI -- The city this year paid contractors to dig up 124 service lines that didn't need replacement, and the state is asking Mayor Karen Weaver for an explanation.
Eric Oswald, director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality's Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance Division, asked Weaver what happened in a May 31 letter, calling the situation a "significant concern."
The average cost of excavating a home site in the traditional way is $1,660 compared to $228 for a hydro-excavation, a process that uses high-pressure water in place of a shovel.
Kristin Moore, a spokeswoman for the mayor, said Weaver and other city officials are "still in the process of reviewing the letter and will respond early next week."
"During the first four phases of FAST Start, the city has conducted excavations at approximately 8,843 homes," Bincsik's letter says. "Of those ... excavations, 6,256 lead or galvanized steel service lines were identified or replaced ... approximately 30 percent of the lines were identified as already being copper from the water main to the house."
Oswald's letter says DEQ records show more than 400 Flint homes were on a kind of waiting list this year -- confirmed to have service lines made of lead or galvanized steel -- and needing excavation when contractors WT Stevens and Waldorf & Sons dug elsewhere instead.
The work and expense could have been avoided at 59 percent of 211 properties they dug up -- homes that already had copper lines connecting homes to water mains, the letter says.
"The MDEQ is emphasizing that, moving forward, all service lines that are to be replaced utilizing federal or state funding should first be hydro-excavated to determine material type," Oswald told Weaver.
The state has asked the mayor to provide a written response "as to how the addresses awarded to WT Stevens and Waldorf & Sons were chosen, what criteria was used in the selection process, and how the city will move forward with the 404 known addresses (still) needing replacement."
McDaniel aims to hit first-year service line target before leaving Flint
McDaniel aims to hit first-year service line target before leaving Flint
"My goal is to have 6,000 replacements and create a list of the next 6,000," said McDaniel, who also wants to complete directions for running the program and a request for proposals for next year's program by then. "We're going to hand it off in good shape."
MLive-The Flint Journal could not reach representatives of either company for comment Friday, June 1.
Weaver's FAST Start program is an effort to remove all lead and galvanized service lines in Flint -- infrastructure that researchers and government officials have said was damaged during the 17 months the city used Flint River water without treating it to make it less corrosive.
The city estimated this month that 14,000 such lines remain in the ground and officials have said they expect to replace them by the end of 2019, using state and federal funds to pay for contractors to do the work. |
|
|
Sat Jun 02, 2018 8:36 am |
|
|
|
Forum Rules:
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Register
Profile
FlintTalk.com Forum Index
> Political Talk
