Michigan cities beyond Flint have concerning lead water levels, data shows

All eyes are fixed on Flint as the crisis over lead in the city's drinking water supply has unfolded at an accelerating pace since 2014.

But Flint is not the only municipal or private water supply in Michigan where the drinking water is testing at or above levels that researchers and public health officials consider to be the threshold for concerning exposure to a potent neurotoxin.

Michigan Department of Environmental Quality records show that six private water supplies in Michigan and two municipalities — not including Flint — meet or exceed the federal limit on lead and copper in water tested at the customer tap.

Another six private and 16 municipal systems across the state, ranging in size from 25 customers to more than 120,000, tested for levels that are below the U.S. federal limit, but above safety benchmarks used by the World Health Organization, the international public health arm of the United Nations, and the Virginia Tech university team that helped blow the whistle in Flint.

Michigan cities with lead at or above the WHO benchmark include Kalamazoo, Muskegon Heights, Benton Harbor, Owosso, Ionia, Marysville and St. Louis.

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