Jackson, Mississippi water crisis fueled by neglectful oversight, regulator says

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — “Inadequate oversight and enforcement” by state and federal agencies contributed to a water crisis in Mississippi’s capital that left tens of 1000’s of individuals without access to secure drinking water for weeks in 2021 and 2022, a watchdog agency says.

The Mississippi State Department of Health didn’t consistently document deficiencies in Jackson’s water system or notify city officials of significant problems following health surveys and annual inspections from 2015 to 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General said in a report released Monday.

“MSDH’s oversight failures obscured long-standing problems at Jackson, allowed problems to worsen over time, and contributed to the eventual system failure,” said the inspector general, an independent group throughout the EPA that began investigating Jackson’s water problems in September 2022.

Because of those deficiencies, the inspector general added, EPA didn’t know concerning the extent of the management and operational problems until February 2020, when it inspected the Jackson system.

State health officials will reply to the inspector general’s report once its review is complete, spokesman Greg Flynn told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

About 25% of Jackson residents live in poverty, and the town has struggled for years with water quality problems and staffing shortages at water treatment plants.

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In early 2021, a chilly snap froze equipment at a water treatment plant in Jackson, leaving 1000’s of individuals without running water or no water for weeks. People collected water in buckets from distribution sites to flush toilets and bathe, and the National Guard helped distribute drinking water.

In January 2022, the EPA issued a notice that Jackson’s water system violated the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. The system nearly collapsed in August and September 2022 after heavy rains exacerbated problems on the treatment plant, leaving tens of 1000’s of individuals without water for drinking, bathing, cooking or flushing.

The EPA’s National Center for Enforcement Investigations found that the Jackson system issued greater than 750 boil water notices between 2016 and 2020. Customers are asked to boil their water because bacteria or other contaminants can enter the system if pipes burst or the distribution system fails.

The center also found that there have been greater than 7,300 water pipe bursts in Jackson from 2017 to 2021. The report said there have been a median of 55 bursts per 100 miles (161 kilometers) of pipe per yr, which is “significantly higher than the industry benchmark” of not more than 15 bursts per 100 miles of line per yr.

The inspector general’s report found that one distribution pipe had been damaged since 2016 and was leaking 4 million to five million gallons (15.1 to 18.9 million liters) of water per day — enough to fill five to almost eight Olympic-sized swimming pools per day — in response to Jackson’s former interim director of the Department of Public Works. That translates to a lack of about 10 billion to 13 billion gallons (37.9 to 49.2 billion liters) between 2016 and 2022, the report said.

In addition to water pressure issues, Jackson has also had water quality issues for years. Due to concerns about lead levels, the town has advised residents to avoid using hot tap water for drinking or cooking and to make use of only filtered or bottled water for infant formula.

In late 2022, a federal judge appointed an independent administrator to oversee Jackson’s water system.