September 4, 2020
Flint - A contractor in Flint(click here) is under fire for how he disposed of lead pipes and soil in a residential neighborhood, and Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley said it's an environmental injustice.
When contractors do demolition, they have to dispose of the so-coiled spoils properly, and now, Neeley is fighting one contractor and the city council over a new issue.
"To allow this to happen once again in a residential area in a poor section of our community, this is unacceptable by all means," Neeley said....
The first thing that needed to be done was to remove the lead pipes separately from any other debris and consider it toxic waste.
To simply dump old lead pipes into the city's garbage dump was completely irresponsible. Water runoff can carry the lead back into the environment and we'd have to start all over again. I can't believe the people involved in his project in Flint have no conscience.
There is nothing like having children effected by lead looking at a garbage dump full of the lead that originally poisoned them. This is a call for "Environmental Justice."
This is an enormous amount of lead. This is not the usual paint chip issue or lead in toys problem, this is an enormous amount of lead and it needs to be handled correctly. This will endanger the health of thousands of people all over again.
In my opinion, it needs to be put in a sealed burial facility OR have it safely removed by a seriously competent contractor that recycles lead. But, even then it has to be understood that this enormous amount of lead pipe MUST be handled correctly and without ANY opportunity of recontamination anywhere in this country.
For that reason, the disposal of these lead pipes MUST BE TRACKED by competent people that know what needs to be done and oversees the work to be sure it is all carried out competently.
By law in most states, the contractor that disturbed the lead is responsible for it's disposal. But, if that contractor is incompetent then that company must pay for proper disposal and oversight. There needs to be reassurances to the people of Flint and to this country it is being handled properly and will never contaminate another human being again!
