Sure Donald Trump was all for the change in pipes with federal funding. But, not unconditionally.
Does anyone actually believe the government of Flint, Michigan would do anything less that seek a way to replace the water pipes? Really?
July 14, 2017
By Ron Fonger
Flint, MI -- The city has replaced more than 7 percent (click here) of the estimated number of lead and galvanized water service lines in the city, meeting a federal mandate to do so by June 30, the coordinator of the effort says.
Retired Brig. Gen. Michael McDaniel, coordinator of the Flint Action and Sustainability Team, told the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality in a letter Monday, July 10, that the city's replacement of 2,150 service lines as of June 30 exceeds the requirement in the federal Lead and Copper Rule.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued an administrative order to the city in January 2016 after the agency determined Flint's water constituted an imminent and substantial endangerment to the public because of elevated levels of lead.
"The city thus had until (June 30) to replace ... the 2,037 service lines," McDaniel wrote in a July 10 letter to the director of the DEQ's Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance Division. "I am very pleased to advise, formally, on behalf of the city (the replacement of) 2,150 service lines, exceeding the LCR requirement."...
Was there a doubt about the level of contamination in the Flint water system? Was there ever a doubt to the extent these pipes had to be replaced? The federal funding should have started immediately. THERE WAS NOTHING TO PROVE to the federal government as to the extent of the damage to the Flint Water System.
Lead and Cooper Rule (click here)
Must replace at least 7% of LSLs annually; (click here) State can require accelerated schedule
If only portion of LSL is replaced, PWS must:
- Notify customers at least 45 days prior to replacement about potential for increased Pb levels.
- Collect samples within 72 hours of replacement and provide results within 3 days of receipt.
The seven percent rule is to prevent the federal government from getting involved with every pipeline issue in the country. The seven percent rule was for water systems that surprisingly has more than seven percent replacement year after year.
The federal government thought every municipality should be fiscally sound enough to handle 7% of pipe replacement before needing federal funding. HONESTLY, this is not the Flint reality.
May 11, 2017
By Margie Kelly
Residents of Flint, Michigan (click here) will finally get their lead pipes replaced as the result of a settlement agreement approved by a federal judge today. The settlement will require the State of Michigan and City of Flint to replace Flint’s lead pipes within three years, and will be enforceable by the court. The lawsuit was filed in response to the Flint water crisis, the result of failed government decisions that caused lead to leach out from aging pipes into thousands of homes in Flint.
“This hard-fought victory means safer water for Flint. For the first time, there will be an enforceable commitment to get the lead pipes out of the ground. The people of Flint are owed at least this much,” said Dimple Chaudhary, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and lead counsel in the case Concerned Pastors for Social Action v. Khouri....
Making Flint, Michigan responsible for PROVING there was a real need for new water pipes is ludicrous. That decision is nothing but pure hatred of people. There was no reason for it. I am sure there would not be a run on the national treasury simply because Flint, Michigan had an emergency to replace the majority of the pipes, if not all of them.
I don't know how the mayor keeps her cool. I'd be furious as the hideous nature of this requirement.
Friday, July 14, 2017
Lake levels (click here) on all of the Great Lakes remain above their long term July averages and last year’s levels. Lakes Superior, Michigan-Huron, and St. Clair have continued their seasonal rise in the past month, having risen 4, 5, and 4 inches, respectively. Lake Erie is about 1 inch lower than it was a month ago, and Lake Ontario is 4 inches below its level at this time last month. Lake Ontario is 2 inches above its highest monthly average record for July set back in 1947. In the next 30 days, there is expected to be little change on Lake Superior and Lake Michigan-Huron. Lake St.Clair, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario are expected to drop 3, 4, and 8 inches, respectively.
See our Daily Levels web page for more water level information. Click the link above and find "Daily level web page."
The lake levels are higher despite the fluctuating daily changes.
See our Daily Levels web page for more water level information. Click the link above and find "Daily level web page."
The lake levels are higher despite the fluctuating daily changes.
Ignorance is a ticket to the dark side.
What if the flooding occurs because of sea level rise?
To the right is a map of the Fox River in Wisconsin and Illinois. Kindly note it links with the Illinois River.
July 13, 2017
Racine County, Wisconsin - The Fox River in Burlington (click here) crested early Thursday at 16.5 feet, an official said, a full three feet higher than the previous record set nearly a decade ago.
The previous record of 13.54 feet was set in 2008. The river is normally about 4 feet, and flood stage is 11 feet....
...Flooding knocked out a We Energies substation at about 5:45 p.m. in the Burlington area, leaving thousands without power. Crews worked on rerouting power from other areas. The communities affected include the city of Burlington, the town of Burlington, Dover and Rochester.
Hefty declared a state of emergency Wednesday morning for the municipality. She encouraged property owners to monitor the Fox and White River levels and expect increased flooding and to not boat on the Fox River.
Sand bags were filled and distributed to the community. Two pick-up points are: Walgreens, 680 Milwaukee Ave.; and Karcher Middle School, 225 Robert St.
One Burlington homeowner said he'd just walked out of his basement when he heard water busting through a window and flooding his home....
This is completely counter intuitive. Ready?
The map to the right is the Illinois River in Illinois. It is long and crosses the state, where does the Illinois River connect to?
The Illinois River is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River. The river runs approximately 273 miles (439 km) long, in the U.S. state of Illinois. This river was important among Native Americans and early French traders as the principal water route connecting the Great Lakes with the Mississippi. The Illinois River meets the Mississippi at Pere Marquette State Park, which is near Grafton. The confluence of the rivers offers vistas that seem endless.
The Illinois River is relatively shallow, just like the Mississippi. In addition, the Illinois River is a "managed" river, just as the Mississippi River is. In 1848, the Illinois and Michigan Canal opened to connect Lake Michigan with the Mississippi River through the Illinois River to promote commerce....
What happens to water with gravity? Water is always level right? If there is a flood as during Katrina the force of the winds created a devastating reality, but, the river eventually receded and went back "into it's banks."
What if that water never settled into it's banks on an old 'baseline,' but, a new baseline caused by sea level rise? What if the water in the delta of the Mississippi River is higher today without accounting for sea level rise?
To the right is a map of the Fox River in Wisconsin and Illinois. Kindly note it links with the Illinois River.
July 13, 2017
Racine County, Wisconsin - The Fox River in Burlington (click here) crested early Thursday at 16.5 feet, an official said, a full three feet higher than the previous record set nearly a decade ago.
The previous record of 13.54 feet was set in 2008. The river is normally about 4 feet, and flood stage is 11 feet....
...Flooding knocked out a We Energies substation at about 5:45 p.m. in the Burlington area, leaving thousands without power. Crews worked on rerouting power from other areas. The communities affected include the city of Burlington, the town of Burlington, Dover and Rochester.
Hefty declared a state of emergency Wednesday morning for the municipality. She encouraged property owners to monitor the Fox and White River levels and expect increased flooding and to not boat on the Fox River.
Sand bags were filled and distributed to the community. Two pick-up points are: Walgreens, 680 Milwaukee Ave.; and Karcher Middle School, 225 Robert St.
One Burlington homeowner said he'd just walked out of his basement when he heard water busting through a window and flooding his home....
The map to the right is the Illinois River in Illinois. It is long and crosses the state, where does the Illinois River connect to?
The Illinois River is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River. The river runs approximately 273 miles (439 km) long, in the U.S. state of Illinois. This river was important among Native Americans and early French traders as the principal water route connecting the Great Lakes with the Mississippi. The Illinois River meets the Mississippi at Pere Marquette State Park, which is near Grafton. The confluence of the rivers offers vistas that seem endless.
The Illinois River is relatively shallow, just like the Mississippi. In addition, the Illinois River is a "managed" river, just as the Mississippi River is. In 1848, the Illinois and Michigan Canal opened to connect Lake Michigan with the Mississippi River through the Illinois River to promote commerce....
What happens to water with gravity? Water is always level right? If there is a flood as during Katrina the force of the winds created a devastating reality, but, the river eventually receded and went back "into it's banks."
What if that water never settled into it's banks on an old 'baseline,' but, a new baseline caused by sea level rise? What if the water in the delta of the Mississippi River is higher today without accounting for sea level rise?
No one actually believes sea level rise ends at the USA shoreline, right?
This is pure speculation and an institute like Wood Hole Oceanographic Institute would have to validate it, but, there was an enormous iceberg that was once the Larsen C Iceshelf a land based ice mass.
The launch of that iceberg is only a spectator sport, right? I mean everyone sheds a silent tear because some ice is gone from Antarctica. But, no one actually believes it is all that benign, right?
See, I don't think it was the rain alone that flooded the Fox River. I think there is a missing element to that equation and nearly invisible to most government agencies BECAUSE, in the case of Florida, scientists can't even SAY THE WORDS Global Warming, etc.
I strongly believe as the land based ice structures melt and calve into the oceans the oceans do rise. Mass is constant. I do not believe there is a magical force field protecting ANY RIVER, ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD from increasing it's depths/height because of a rising ocean.
We are seeing more and more damage from rivers, streams, creeks that normally were benign and simply took on the rain and overland flow (water runoff over land), swelled and flowed downstream while increasing water heights down stream.
What if all the water didn't reach the delta of a river? What if an increment stayed behind, what would happen during the next rainstorm? Would the creek, stream or river handle the same size rainstorm the same way or would the water level be a little higher? Because, as example, we know the delta of the Mississippi is being met with sea level rise in the Gulf of Mexico. Now, if the ocean water of the Gulf is higher, the delta is going to be higher and the Mississippi will be higher, then the Illinois River would be higher and the Fox River would be higher BEFORE THE STORM EVEN STARTED.
In the news are often the words, "I've never seen the river like that and I've lived here all my life." That statement is highly correct, not just from the rain, but, from the increased height of a benign and friendly stream. When the rain starts, the flowing water is no longer a friend that soaks up such a large rainstorm, but, a raging torrent all because no one said, "What is going to happen INLAND when the oceans rise due to sea level rise?"
One question. Just one question. One question oppressed by politics and it kills people, damages property and destroys the plans and hopes of generations. Dredging is not going to do it. Dredging assumes there is too much silt in the bottom of the river. If digging a hole makes a city or county government feel better, then they have just wasted a ton of money because the new hole will soak up water from the oceans to EQUAL the water level all over the world.
If sea level rise is worrying coastal areas, it better be worrying the management of inland water ways as well. This FACT effects emergency management, not dredging. It effects FEMA and newly realized flood plains the the possibility of rebuilding. It means cities and towns can be lost as sea level rise effects the coast as well as the lands along the Mississippi, St. Lawrence Seaway and the Florida Everglades.
I don't believe the lock systems of the rivers like the St. Lawrence and Mississippi-Illinois River are completely benign to sea level rise. Water is water and it has weight and force and it will provide a rising level all along the way, eventually.
Oh, by the way, what do the property tax income look like now?
President Obama and the Democratic Congress treated every American with complete fairness and equality.
Even the health care insurance companies don't want "McConnell Care" or "Mitch Care."
July 13, 2017
By Paul Krugman
...The effects of this change would be disastrous. (click here) Don’t take my word for it: It’s what the insurers themselves say. In a special memo, AHIP, the insurance industry trade group, warned against adopting the Cruz proposal, which would “fracture and segment insurance markets into separate risk pools,” leading to “unstable health insurance markets” in which people with pre-existing conditions would lose coverage or have plans that were “far more expensive” than under Obamacare.
Or to put it another way, this bill would send insurance markets into a classic death spiral. Republicans have been predicting such a spiral for years, but keep being wrong: All indications are that Obamacare, despite having some real problems, is stabilizing, and doing pretty well in states that support it. But this bill would effectively sabotage all that progress.
And let’s be clear: Many of the victims of this sabotage would be members of the white working class, people who voted for Donald Trump in the belief that he really meant it when he promised that there would be no cuts to Medicaid and that everyone would get better, cheaper insurance. So why are Republican leaders pushing this? Why is there even a chance that it might become law?...
By Paul Krugman
...The effects of this change would be disastrous. (click here) Don’t take my word for it: It’s what the insurers themselves say. In a special memo, AHIP, the insurance industry trade group, warned against adopting the Cruz proposal, which would “fracture and segment insurance markets into separate risk pools,” leading to “unstable health insurance markets” in which people with pre-existing conditions would lose coverage or have plans that were “far more expensive” than under Obamacare.
Or to put it another way, this bill would send insurance markets into a classic death spiral. Republicans have been predicting such a spiral for years, but keep being wrong: All indications are that Obamacare, despite having some real problems, is stabilizing, and doing pretty well in states that support it. But this bill would effectively sabotage all that progress.
And let’s be clear: Many of the victims of this sabotage would be members of the white working class, people who voted for Donald Trump in the belief that he really meant it when he promised that there would be no cuts to Medicaid and that everyone would get better, cheaper insurance. So why are Republican leaders pushing this? Why is there even a chance that it might become law?...
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