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Water is tested at the Flint water treatment plant in this Flint Journal file photo.

(Flint Journal file photo)

FLINT, MI -- The state is using recent tests that show the city's water quality is improving as evidence that a court order requiring home delivery of bottled water in unnecessary and could actually harm the Flint water system.

In a filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals Monday, Dec. 5, attorneys for the state say the latest test results for Flint's water "confirm that lead levels are below 15 (parts per billion) action level and the water system is in compliance with federal regulations on lead and copper levels."

The filing with the Appeals Court cites testing by the city, state and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that shows lead levels at 8 ppb from homes at high risk of elevated lead levels, the lowest rate registered in 2016.

Findings from separate testing by Virginia Tech are also cited, including what researchers last week called "amazing progress .... in terms of reducing lead levels as a result of enhanced corrosion control (and) enhanced treatments ..."

Levels of lead in water are measured by the 90th percentile. In the case of Flint, that means 90 percent of homes had lead levels of 8 ppb or less -- well under the federal Lead and Copper Rule threshold of 15 ppb.

The state is asking the Appeals Court to stay an order by U.S. District Court Judge David M. Lawson, which requires the city to provide Flint residents with home-delivered bottled water unless there is proof homes have properly installed and maintained water filters or residents opt-out.

On Friday, Dec. 2, Lawson denied the state's request for a stay of his injunction, saying the ruling was "based on testimony furnished by the state defendants that unfiltered tap water delivered to Flint users does not comply with the Lead and Copper Rule."

The injunction was issued in relation to a lawsuit filed by the Concerned Pastors for Social Action, the American Civil Liberties Union and others.

Monday's filing cites the most recent test results as evidence that filtered Flint water is safe and says the foundational legal theory of the lawsuit -- that Flint water is in violation of federal regulations -- is no longer correct.

State attorneys cited an announcement by officials at Virginia Tech Friday, Dec. 2, that "inundating Flint with bottled water will actually harm the system's recovery" because it will discourage residents from using filtered tap water and keeping water in the delivery system fresh.