The lead of the pipes in Flint, Michigan was known. It was no surprise. It is the job of the professionals to know what they are working with and protect the public.
The US EPA did on several occasions tell Flint the water needed to be buffered to prevent the chemical interaction. It is the job of the USA's EPA to do exactly that. The reason the USA EPA fell into disapproval and scandal regarding Flint is THE DEGREE of urgency needed to end the crisis. I think by the time the USA EPA became aware of the crisis it was already underway. The USA EPA should have acted more invasively to stop it and return potable water to the residents of Flint. But, those involved all along the way knew of the dangers. That is Water Quality 101.
It is a bit of a surreal understanding that a letter of warning to a Governor or others involved was simply ignored for punitive financial reasons. So, the USA EPA officer involved expected to be respected. It is the public trust that was violated in a profound way. No one expected the Governor to look the other way while people were being poisoned. When the USA EPA wrote the second and third letter it was with the understanding there would be compliance, but, there was none. The courts needed to be tapped and to some extent there was a degree of denial at the ruthlessness of Snyder's priorities.
It was a year if I remember right to make it to the public's attention. It only happened because of professionals like the Virginia Tech PhD. (click here) and his team along with a local pediatrician told the media this was real. The poisoning was happening. There was a high level of denial at the societal level because it was so unthinkable.
This dynamic of PERMISSION to do harm is what is most troubling about Republican leadership. Snyder didn't care. He not only didn't care but, figured the people of Flint brought it on themselves and deserved it for their financial troubles. We are seeing more and more of this permission to allow harm by Republicans. Look at what occurred now with Ukraine. There is the testimony that Trump didn't hold important Ukrainians dying at the hand of Russia. There is the issue of guns, health care and education. All the Republican policies in these important areas are doing harm. The allowance of "harm" as a political directive MUST stop.
Sorry, I didn't get to this until Saturday, but, yesterday was a troubling day. I have feelings too and it was an upsetting day. I write, but, I don't do any of this in cold blood.
I will place this at the usual Friday Night 8:30 pm spot where it belongs to anyone who cares to reference these entries.
10 December 2019
By Emily Holden and Jessica Glenza
Executives at one of the world’s largest utilities companies (click here) knew that families in Flint, Michigan, might be at risk of being poisoned by lead in their tap water months before the city publicly admitted the problem, according to internal company emails.
Email exchanges in February 2015 between executives at Veolia and a city contractor show some senior employees were aware that lead from the city’s pipes could be leaching into drinking water. They argued that city officials should be told to change
Flint’s water supply to protect residents.
But the company never made that recommendation public. At the time, Veolia was exploring other lucrative contracts with the city.
Flint began struggling with foul tasting, discolored water after switching to the Flint River as its supply in April 2014. Test results soon showed elevated levels of carcinogens. The water was corrosive, so it was releasing lead from pipes. The city found extraordinarily high lead levels in one resident’s water in February 2015, but residents were not made aware of the extent of the problem until September 2015.
Five years later, the people of Flint continue to demand accountability for the water crisis, which exposed residents to high levels of lead, a potent neurotoxin. Children and infants who consumed the water are likely to suffer lifelong learning disabilities. Flint residents are still advised to either drink bottled water or filter it from the tap....
