Flint Michigan (1 Viewer)

[Saint_Ward]

The hammer coming down, more to come.

Flint water crisis: 3 charged - CNN.com

The man who supervised Flint's water treatment plant has been charged, along with two state environmental officials, in connection with the Michigan city's water crisis.

Mike Glasgow, a former supervisor at the Flint treatment plant who now serves as the city's utilities administrator, is charged with tampering with evidence and willful neglect of duty as a public officer, according to court records.

The other two are Stephen Busch and Mike Prysby of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

Prysby, who still works with the department, stands charged with two counts of misconduct in office, tampering with evidence, conspiracy to tamper with evidence, and two violations of the Safe Water Drinking Act (one a monitoring violation, one a treatment violation). Busch, who is on unpaid administrative leave with the department, faces the same charges minus one of the misconduct in office counts.

Local media outlets report that Prysby is a former district engineer with the the state's Office of Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance, while Busch was a district supervisor in the division.

 

[Tapxe]

Maybe if a few governors, mayors, and legislators go down too, it will clean up some of the corruption. It's tiring to watch them walk away time after time.

 

[JimEverett]

Indications are that the EPA signed off just as the DEQ did - will federal officials be charged?

 

[Tapxe]

Indications are that the EPA signed off just as the DEQ did - will federal officials be charged?

One can hope.

 

[Tapxe]

5,300 U.S. water systems are in violation of lead rules - CNN.com

Eighteen million Americans live in communities where the water systems are in violation of the law. Moreover, the federal agency in charge of making sure those systems are safe not only knows the issues exist, but it's done very little to stop them, according to a new report and information provided to CNN by multiple sources and water experts.

"Imagine a cop sitting, watching people run stop signs, and speed at 90 miles per hour in small communities and still doing absolutely nothing about it -- knowing the people who are violating the law. And doing nothing. That's unfortunately what we have now,"

I can't help but think this is what happens when you cripple protection agencies and let donations rule politics.

 

[Saint_Ward]

Part of the issue with that data is this...

Violations include failure to properly test water for lead, failure to report contamination to residents, and failure to treat water properly to avoid lead contamination. Yet, states took action in 817 cases; the EPA took action in just 88 cases, according to NRDC's report.

Being used to be audited for many different things, a violation (or the lessor opportunity for improvement) isn't always equal to others. Some of the inability to act would be what you suggeset, the funding issues and politics of regulation/de-regulation. The other part is that I wonder what % of the overall violations are really minor things that didn't cause a real issue. i.e. doing a test wrong one month, but correcting it later and never showing a lead issue.

This is probably the more telling map of action levels and water systems under alter to correct issues.

 

[Zardnok]

Part of the issue with that data is this...



Being used to be audited for many different things, a violation (or the lessor opportunity for improvement) isn't always equal to others. Some of the inability to act would be what you suggeset, the funding issues and politics of regulation/de-regulation. The other part is that I wonder what % of the overall violations are really minor things that didn't cause a real issue. i.e. doing a test wrong one month, but correcting it later and never showing a lead issue.

This is probably the more telling map of action levels and water systems under alter to correct issues.

Think this is the map you were trying to link. Looks like in Louisiana, We have the NW corner and SE corner affected.

 

[Saint_Ward]

Think this is the map you were trying to link. Looks like in Louisiana, We have the NW corner and SE corner affected.

Fixed it, thank you.

 

[Tapxe]

10 Things They Won

1. While the Children in Flint Were Given Poisoned Water to Drink, General Motors Was Given a Special Hookup to the Clean Water.
2. For Just $100 a Day, This Crisis Could’ve Been Prevented.
3. There’s More Than the Lead in Flint’s Water.
4. People’s Homes in Flint Are Now Worth Nothing Because They Cant Be Sold.
5. While They Were Being Poisoned, They Were Also Being Bombed.
6. The Wife of the Governor’s Chief of Staff Is a Spokeswoman for Nestle, Michigan’s Largest Owner of Private Water Reserves.
7. In Michigan, from Flint water, to Crime and Murder, to GM Ignition Switches, It’s a Culture of Death.
8. Don’t Call It “Detroit Water” — It’s the Largest Source of Fresh Drinking Water in the World.
9. ALL the Children Have Been Exposed, As Have All the Adults
10. This Was Done, Like So Many Things These Days, So the Rich Could Get a Big Tax Break.

Some seem a bit sensationalist, but the rest should serve as a caution.

 

[Alan]

Crime in Flint, Michigan (MI): murders, rapes, robberies, assaults, burglaries, thefts, auto thefts, arson, law enforcement employees, police officers, crime map

Flint No. 1, Detroit second among nation's most violent cities | MLive.com

Maybe we should look a bit more closely in how small government makes mistakes to see where the breakdown is on a global level. Environment is a key to human survival.

We can bog down for years in trying to prove or discredit the above implied innuendo but we cannot forget the past in motion which puts us at present to make choices for the future.

 

[Tapxe]

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[Optimus Prime]

FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, his health director and other ex-officials have been told they’re being charged after a new investigation of the Flint water scandal, which devastated the majority Black city with lead-contaminated water and was blamed for a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, The Associated Press has learned.......

Michigan plans to charge ex-Gov. Snyder in Flint water probe

FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, his health director and other ex-officials have been told they’re being charged after a new investigation of the Flint water scandal, which devastated the majority Black city with lead-contaminated water and was blamed for a deadly outbreak of Le

apnews.com

 

[Super44]

Being an expat of Michigan (granted, the other side of the state), people want to focus on the switching of the water supply, which did lead to a slightly lower pH, thus leached lead out of old pipes as the issue.

To me, the issue is that all these houses have old lead pipes.

That infrastructure needs to be updated, and I'm not sure how much of it is from the city vs homeowners.

I would be on shaky ground trying to argue that my home water was killing me, when I drank out of a mug made of babbit metal (lead alloy).

The water source isn't the issue (even though it was the catalyst), but the lead pipes are.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis

Lead piping systems were the norm throughout the country, 50-100 years ago. It is not just in Flynt, Michigan, either. If you want the safest material to transport drinking water, use glass lined pipe. That is the reality, but is not feasible. Let’s not even begin to think about all of the lead based paint used back in the same time frame and still to this day is in inner city homes. You ever wondered, how many thousands of inner city rental properties exist, that have MANY lead based coats of paint, under the existing finished paint? New Orleans being one of the highest rental populations, as far as percentage goes, I can only imagine.

Nothing is perfect. Those people have been dealt a difficult hand. Not sure what the answer is at this point. But it is horrible to think about.