The headlines were alarming. Traces of cancer-causing contaminants in New Orleans and Pittsburgh public drinking water supplies. Lead from water supply pipes in Boston tap water. In response, in 1974 Congress enacted the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), which was designed to protect public drinking water supplies.

Forty years later, Congress has passed multiple amendments to the SDWA, and regulatory agencies have adopted complex and lengthy regulations designed to prevent crises like the catastrophe now occurring in Flint, Michigan. But Flint’s water is still undrinkable and dangerous.

If allegations prove accurate, government employees of both the city of Flint and the state of Michigan appear to have violated the SDWA by failing to comply with regulatory requirements designed to keep Flint citizens safe from lead-contaminated drinking water.

But will anyone actually be prosecuted criminally for this disaster? Based on my experience litigating criminal and civil environmental cases, I know the law is complex. It remains to be seen whether anyone can or will be prosecuted criminally by either federal or state prosecutors for this disaster.

Treatment and testing requirements

The SDWA requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish national standards for contaminants, such as lead, in public water supplies that could adversely affect public health.