The problem in Flint has been successfully been prevented in nearly every other city or town in the USA. I want to make it perfectly clear the lead in Flint's water supply was known to happen. This negligence by Snyder is criminal.
Chloramination (click here) is the process of adding chloramine to drinking water to disinfect it and kill germs. Chloramination is sometimes used as an alternative to chlorination. Chloramines are a group of chemical compounds that contain chlorine and ammonia. The particular type of chloramine used in drinking water disinfection is called monochloramine. Monochloramine is mixed into water in levels that kill germs but are still safe to drink...
There has been a change in the type of chemical used in sewage treatment/water treatment. The reason for the change is a decision at the Homeland Security level to increase safety to citizens.
This is an article from "Scientific American" published in 2009.
December 16, 2009
By Sara Goodman
"Debate Rises on Whether to Ban Chlorine" (click here)
A sprawling Capitol Hill debate over protecting U.S. chemical facilities from terrorists has come down to a central question: What should be done about chlorine?
The people of the USA will recognize the idea of barrel bombs as they have been used in Syria. The barrels are filled with chlorine and released to cities where human beings breaths in the toxic vapor and they are effected. It is wrong to use any weapon against innocent civilians. That is international law.
The issue of chlorine came into debate with the new USA EPA and USA Homeland Security considering the use of chlorine in the country. Those concerns were established to be valid and there was a change in the chemicals to be used rather than chlorine.
I don't want to get to much into the chemistry, but, chlorine is a highly reactive chemical because it is IONIC (having charges that interact easily in a mixture) and it is simple (that simplicity allows any reaction in a mixture to be known before the mixture is produced).
Chlorine has been replaced with a different type of molecule that is still reactive ENOUGH to do the same work as chlorine, but, is more stable in transportation and any exposure to people and their skin.
This is an 'amine' base molecule. (click here for the chemistry) A chlorine ATOM can be added to the 'amine base' to create the simplest form of chloramine. With this illustration of an amine molecule the "R" represents where any atom or compound connects to the PRIMARY BASE. So, the new molecule of chloramine reactions far differently than pure chlorine.
A chemical reaction is the topic of chloramine. Lead is a metal and carries different properties than any ionic molecule. Chlorine didn't interact with lead. But, chloramine has reactive electrons and will interact with the oxygen molecule (oxygen appears on the surface of lead when exposed to air on Earth - PbO) that is on the surface of lead and causes it to be mobile in the water coming from sewage treatment. Chloramine (the R is replaced with an ionic chlorine atom) is not as an efficient molecule as chlorine, but, it is far safer EXCEPT when first introduced to a city or towns sewage/water treatment.
So, the thing is this: Chloramine will interact with the lead in old pipes. It is very expensive for a city or town in the USA to replace every pipe with a different type. When chloramine is INTRODUCTED to the sewage treatment/water treatment process citizens were to be told not to use the water UNTIL the dark flecks stop being suspended in the drinking or cooking water. This is NOT a problem with any bacteria, fungus or virus. This is purely a chemical interaction.
USA EPA Information on Chloramines and Drinking Water (click here). This is an educational PDF, not the law governing the safety of drinking water to the citizen.
"Summary of the Safe Drinking Water Act" (click here)
As far as I know every city and town implementing chloramine to their sewage treatment or water treatment educated their public (news programs and letters in the US Mail). Many people in the USA have taken concern over this new molecule in their drinking water and now only use bottled water (delivery to their home or purchased in a store).
In the case of Flint it could and should have been argued to the realistic outcome of these folks as their average income is over $8000 less than the Michigan average (click here). People that do not understand low middle class income would have no sympathy for the need of use of bottled water in Flint. The State of Michigan should have offered cities and towns the option of providing bottled water during the period when lead would be entering the water supply. This was not something the average household in Flint can simply absorb until the water quality returned to normal (clear of lead).
If all there is in Flint is lead pipes from decades past and there continues to be lead in the water then this is a situation the USA EPA needs to monitor. The presence of lead in the water after the introduction of chloramine isn't suppose to be continuous for months and months or years. There is something here that is different than most other cities AS FAR AS I KNOW. Perhaps this is a conversation the country's mayors have had and have knowledge to the quality of their drinking water.
The United States Conference of Mayors (click here)
These mayors are very smart and engaged folks. They were the very first level of government to work with the United Nations in pursuit of defeating the climate crisis.
But, this entry on this blog was to make the issue of lead in water as a clear problem for Flint. The presence of elevated levels of lead in the water that has obviously given the children and their parents a concern that could and should have been avoided is a criminal issue and not simply an emergency. The lead in the water should have cleared up far sooner than a year from initial introduction of chloramine.
The people of Flint need bottled water for their cooking and drinking. The USA EPA should consider providing it if the water continues to be an issue. If the water from Detroit works well then problem is solved, but, whether the lead introduced to the children and parents still has to be mitigated in some way is something the federal EPA should consider, possibly in conjunction with federal HHS.
There is no reason why this happened. The danger is well known. And the actions of selling the pipe to Detroit water is simply criminal. That is premeditated in it's brevity to lead poisoning. If there is someone profiting within this obvious corruption then a federal investigation needs to be pursued.
Governor Snyder is most responsible because the rights of the mayor and council has been negated by the state's judicial process through the capacity of a City Manager. The mayor and council had no power to change the trajectory of the citizens and their children.
Chloramination (click here) is the process of adding chloramine to drinking water to disinfect it and kill germs. Chloramination is sometimes used as an alternative to chlorination. Chloramines are a group of chemical compounds that contain chlorine and ammonia. The particular type of chloramine used in drinking water disinfection is called monochloramine. Monochloramine is mixed into water in levels that kill germs but are still safe to drink...
There has been a change in the type of chemical used in sewage treatment/water treatment. The reason for the change is a decision at the Homeland Security level to increase safety to citizens.
This is an article from "Scientific American" published in 2009.
December 16, 2009
By Sara Goodman
"Debate Rises on Whether to Ban Chlorine" (click here)
A sprawling Capitol Hill debate over protecting U.S. chemical facilities from terrorists has come down to a central question: What should be done about chlorine?
At issue is whether water treatment plants can function without chlorine.
Chlorine has been used for more than a century to disinfect drinking water and is responsible for a 50 percent increase in life expectancy, according to the American Water Works Association. About 98 percent of North American water treatment systems use chlorine, the trade group says.
But environmentalists -- the most vocal proponents of strong water-treatment rules -- do not like chlorine. They say rail shipping and storage of massive amounts of chlorine gas to water-treatment plants are dangerous. U.S. PIRG and other advocacy groups say gas released in a derailment or terrorist attack can threaten the lives of thousands of people in a single incident. They want water-treatment plants to find safer substitutes....
The people of the USA will recognize the idea of barrel bombs as they have been used in Syria. The barrels are filled with chlorine and released to cities where human beings breaths in the toxic vapor and they are effected. It is wrong to use any weapon against innocent civilians. That is international law.
The issue of chlorine came into debate with the new USA EPA and USA Homeland Security considering the use of chlorine in the country. Those concerns were established to be valid and there was a change in the chemicals to be used rather than chlorine.
I don't want to get to much into the chemistry, but, chlorine is a highly reactive chemical because it is IONIC (having charges that interact easily in a mixture) and it is simple (that simplicity allows any reaction in a mixture to be known before the mixture is produced).
This is an 'amine' base molecule. (click here for the chemistry) A chlorine ATOM can be added to the 'amine base' to create the simplest form of chloramine. With this illustration of an amine molecule the "R" represents where any atom or compound connects to the PRIMARY BASE. So, the new molecule of chloramine reactions far differently than pure chlorine.A chemical reaction is the topic of chloramine. Lead is a metal and carries different properties than any ionic molecule. Chlorine didn't interact with lead. But, chloramine has reactive electrons and will interact with the oxygen molecule (oxygen appears on the surface of lead when exposed to air on Earth - PbO) that is on the surface of lead and causes it to be mobile in the water coming from sewage treatment. Chloramine (the R is replaced with an ionic chlorine atom) is not as an efficient molecule as chlorine, but, it is far safer EXCEPT when first introduced to a city or towns sewage/water treatment.
So, the thing is this: Chloramine will interact with the lead in old pipes. It is very expensive for a city or town in the USA to replace every pipe with a different type. When chloramine is INTRODUCTED to the sewage treatment/water treatment process citizens were to be told not to use the water UNTIL the dark flecks stop being suspended in the drinking or cooking water. This is NOT a problem with any bacteria, fungus or virus. This is purely a chemical interaction.
USA EPA Information on Chloramines and Drinking Water (click here). This is an educational PDF, not the law governing the safety of drinking water to the citizen.
"Summary of the Safe Drinking Water Act" (click here)
As far as I know every city and town implementing chloramine to their sewage treatment or water treatment educated their public (news programs and letters in the US Mail). Many people in the USA have taken concern over this new molecule in their drinking water and now only use bottled water (delivery to their home or purchased in a store).
In the case of Flint it could and should have been argued to the realistic outcome of these folks as their average income is over $8000 less than the Michigan average (click here). People that do not understand low middle class income would have no sympathy for the need of use of bottled water in Flint. The State of Michigan should have offered cities and towns the option of providing bottled water during the period when lead would be entering the water supply. This was not something the average household in Flint can simply absorb until the water quality returned to normal (clear of lead).
If all there is in Flint is lead pipes from decades past and there continues to be lead in the water then this is a situation the USA EPA needs to monitor. The presence of lead in the water after the introduction of chloramine isn't suppose to be continuous for months and months or years. There is something here that is different than most other cities AS FAR AS I KNOW. Perhaps this is a conversation the country's mayors have had and have knowledge to the quality of their drinking water.
The United States Conference of Mayors (click here)
These mayors are very smart and engaged folks. They were the very first level of government to work with the United Nations in pursuit of defeating the climate crisis.
But, this entry on this blog was to make the issue of lead in water as a clear problem for Flint. The presence of elevated levels of lead in the water that has obviously given the children and their parents a concern that could and should have been avoided is a criminal issue and not simply an emergency. The lead in the water should have cleared up far sooner than a year from initial introduction of chloramine.
The people of Flint need bottled water for their cooking and drinking. The USA EPA should consider providing it if the water continues to be an issue. If the water from Detroit works well then problem is solved, but, whether the lead introduced to the children and parents still has to be mitigated in some way is something the federal EPA should consider, possibly in conjunction with federal HHS.
There is no reason why this happened. The danger is well known. And the actions of selling the pipe to Detroit water is simply criminal. That is premeditated in it's brevity to lead poisoning. If there is someone profiting within this obvious corruption then a federal investigation needs to be pursued.
Governor Snyder is most responsible because the rights of the mayor and council has been negated by the state's judicial process through the capacity of a City Manager. The mayor and council had no power to change the trajectory of the citizens and their children.
