The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) has recently announced the members of its Corrosion Control Advisory Panel. The panel has been one of the state’s many actions toward lead remediation, which has accelerated this year.
Seven drinking water professionals have agreed to serve on the Corrosion Control Advisory Panel. The panel members include:
- Elin Betanzo, PE, president and founder, Safe Water Engineering, LLC
- David Cornwell, CEO, Cornwell Engineering Group, Inc.
- Darren Lytle, environmental engineer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Drinking Water Management Branch CESER Water Infrastructure Division
- Susan Masten, professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan State University
- Desmond Murray, associate professor of chemistry, Andrews University
- Terese Olson, associate professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan
- Andrea Porter, environmental engineer, Groundwater & Drinking Water Branch, EPA, Region V
The announcement comes as the state accelerates its efforts to reduce lead exposures caused by aging water distribution infrastructure in several communities throughout the state, with the goal of removing lead contamination from Michigan drinking water statewide.
The seven-member panel will bolster EGLE's ongoing effort to advise drinking water systems with aging lead service lines on effective corrosion control strategies. The panel will report to EGLE's Drinking Water and Environmental Health Division (DWEHD), which regulates 2,685 public drinking water systems under the state's Lead and Copper Rule (LCR).
Lead in old service lines and home plumbing can enter drinking water through various mechanisms related to the corrosivity of the water. The Lead and Copper Rule may require systems to provide corrosion control when they exceed the federal lead or copper action level. Phosphate is typically added, which coats the old plumbing materials and prevents water from contacting the metals. This corrosion control is intended to limit leaching of metals into drinking water to protect Michiganders while a statewide effort is underway to eliminate all lead service lines.
The panel was established with the following specific duties in mind:
- Provide advice on strategies to ensure compliance with LCR corrosion protection requirements at drinking water systems where corrosion protection is triggered, is not effective or needs to be optimized
- Provide input into the selection and optimization of corrosion protection methods
- Advise on interim actions that would be most effective to ensure public protection while corrosion protection is implemented
- Recommend and assess corrosion control studies and evaluate corrosion protection effectiveness
- Identify metrics used to assess corrosion control effectiveness
The initial meeting of the panel will take place Nov. 23 at 1 p.m.
