Michigan official suggested gaming water tests to 'bump out' lead results

State environmental analyst in a 2008 email asked a technician collecting samples of a water system in Fenton to collect more to avert a 'lead public notice'

A Michigan environmental official suggested a technician collecting samples for a suburban Detroit private water system "bump ... out" a test result that found very high levels of lead by testing more homes, according to a 2008 email reviewed by the Guardian. Doing so could avert a "lead public notice", the email reasoned, which would alert residents of dangerously high levels in their water.

"Oh my gosh, I've never heard [it] more black and white," said Marc Edwards, a Virginia Tech professor and lead expert who helped uncover the Flint water crisis. "In the Flint emails, if you recall, it was a little bit implied " this is like telling the strategy, which is: 'You failed, but if you go out and get a whole bunch more samples that are low, then you can game it lower.'