The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will hold public meetings to get community input on mid- and long-term solutions to improve Jackson, Mississippi’s, drinking water system.
This feedback will assist the agency’s oversight of the drinking water system.
The meetings will be held on Thursday, October 10, and Friday, October 11, 2024. Meeting times and locations can be found here.
The EPA and DOJ have heard from the public in previous meetings, letters, emails and phone calls concerning the future of the drinking water system. In the upcoming meetings, the EPA and DOJ are seeking additional community input on the future of the system.
On November 29, 2022, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi entered an Interim Stipulated Order (ISO), agreed to by the EPA, the DOJ, the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) and the city of Jackson to:
- Create a Priority Projects List with steps needed to stabilize the city’s drinking water system, remedy problems that contributed to the water crisis, and establish sustainable practices.
- Appoint Edward Henifin as the Interim Third-Party Manager (ITPM) to manage the city’s drinking water system and implement the Priority Projects List.
- Delay further litigation while the parties (EPA, MSDH, DOJ, and the city) worked on a longer-term solution.
