By Pamela Pugh
...What is notable (click here) is the persistent austerity and paternalistic behavior that the MDEQ under the Snyder administration had clung to up until the end. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's first act in office was a commendable and strong first step in prioritizing the health and well-being of Michigan residents. On Wednesday, she issued a directive to require public workers to report threats to public health.
Although the quality of water in Flint has improved, there is no safe level of lead to consume. And there is very little information about the pathogens residents were potentially exposed to and the resulting long-term health effects.
After four years, residents still live with the devastation of what was and what is and are left wondering if they will ultimately have to live with some level of contamination and without being made whole.
“Flint has not moved into a post-disaster phase because there continues to be problematic events that extend the impacts of the Water Crisis," wrote Vicki Johnson-Lawrence, co-project director for the Flint ReCAST (Resiliency in Communities After Stress and Trauma) Initiative....
January 2, 2019
By Paul Egan
Lansing – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, (click here) in a response to the Flint water crisis and more recent concerns about drinking water quality, signed an executive directive Wednesday requiring state employees to immediately report to their bosses any threat to public health or safety.
The directive requires department directors to immediately investigate whether the concern is a valid one and take further actions to mitigate or eliminate the threat if they determine it is valid. That includes reporting the threat to the state's chief compliance officer if agency officials don't have the resources to address it on their own.
"This executive directive will ensure that our government works for the people of our state," Whitmer said.
The directive goes further than a letter former Gov. Rick Snyder sent state employees in 2016, near the height of the Flint drinking water crisis, but it doesn't set out penalties for violations....
Governor Whitmer was absolutely correct in issuing the law to COMPEL individual workers that protect the public health to act quickly and without hesitation. In turn when a supervisor is notified he or she are supposed to act to protect the public and begin the process of finding the cause and the remedy. Of course such actions require funding if not a simple fix, but, the public will be protected from toxins.
I would hope a public notice would be issued when such a problem is first discovered and confirmed.
Part 127 of Act 368 of 1978 (Statute) (click here)
PUBLIC HEALTH CODE (EXCERPTS)
STATUTE
Act 368 of 1978
The current law as noted above does not compel workers to act when a potential danger to the public is realized. It provides for the formation of a commission to investigate any problem within the interest of the well being of the public. There is a section in that law providing for fines when violations are realized.
333.12715 Violation as misdemeanor; penalties; prosecution.
Sec. 12715. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), a person who violates sections 12701 to 12714, a rule or the construction code promulgated under section 12714, or an order issued by the department or local health department under sections 12701 to 12714 is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(2) A member of the advisory board who intentionally violates section 12713(2) shall be subject to the penalties prescribed in Act No. 267 of the Public Acts of 1976, as ;amended.
(3) The attorney general or local prosecuting attorney shall be responsible for prosecuting a person who violates sections 12701 to 12715.
History: 1978, Act 368, Eff. Sept. 30, 1978.
The statute has been law since 1978. The only reason Governor Whitmer wrote this new law was because of the blatant disregard of ethics and human dignity by Governor Snyder in his ruthless approach to his Emergency Manager Law.
It says a lot about the time we live in when elected government officials look for words in law that will weaken it's meaning and allow danger to the well being of the public. In the case of Governor Snyder he did not feel compelled to act when there was an obvious danger to human health in Flint, but, instead valued the US Dollar over the Citizen. Since Flint was having economic troubles, resolving those financial issues came first and human health second.
We saw the value system of Republican Governor Snyder when GM complained about rusting engines due to exposure to Flint River Water. The Public Health Code, at the time, did not COMPEL him to act to protect the health of the people of Flint. His Emergency Manager Law passed by his Republican Majority Legislature and signed by him into law took precedent over the health of the people of Flint.
Now, why would any reasonable man elected Governor not make the connection between a rotting engine exposed to Flint River Water and human beings?
Now, why would any reasonable man elected Governor not make the connection between a rotting engine exposed to Flint River Water and human beings?
NO ONE EXPECTED AN ELECTED GOVERNOR TO BE THIS BLATANTLY UNETHICAL. NO ONE. WHAT SNYDER DID WAS UNTHINKABLE, YET IN THE NAME OF "FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY" HE NOT ONLY THOUGHT THE UNTHINKABLE HE ACTED IN A WAY THAT WAS UNTHINKABLE.
Governor Whitmer has fixed the problem FOR NOW. The people of Michigan still need a watchdog to insure the majority Republican State House and Senate doesn't pass a law to negate the intentions of the original law or that of Governor Whitmer.
January 1, 2019
By Paul Egan
...Here are five things Whitmer said during her inaugural address: (click here)
Working together: "Let’s fix our roads, and be the state that’s not paralyzed by partisanship, but works together. And create the blueprint for rebuilding America’s crumbling infrastructure. Let’s show the rest of the country how to solve America’s literacy crisis, and show them what good government actually looks like."
Closing the skills gap: "Many will question whether we can protect our families and bolster our economy by fixing those damn roads. They may not believe we have the ingenuity to solve the literacy crisis. And no doubt, some are betting against our ability to close the skills gap. But we are up to it, Michigan."
Shared future: "We have always defied the odds. And we are going to do it again, together. We are going to prove that our shared future is more powerful than the issues that divide us."
Building bridges, not walls: "At a time when too many people want to separate us by building walls, we here in Michigan are going to get back to building bridges together. The story of the Mackinac Bridge reminds us that we can do great things when we work together."
Her victory: "I’m here because, over the past year, the people of Michigan showed up. At town halls, at rallies, and in record numbers on Election Day. I am so grateful that you did. But our work is just beginning. That’s why, today, I’m asking you to keep showing up."...
Expect to be concerned for the new Governor's priorities, the water of Michigan and the well being of the people. The vigilance is more important than ever and any violation of the PUBLIC TRUST should be reported as the individuals in the State House and Senate that feel free to disregard ethics and the well being of the people and their water.
Flint is a dramatic example of the leverage money carries when it is considered an equivalent or in the case of Snyder, more important than the citizen.The Supreme Court is dead wrong!
Money or corporations are not a citizens.
