Originally posted by snowdragon
Why should they have to be bigger to do their jobs, it doesn't take 100 employees to test water.
Well, that's true if you consider 1 source of water, if you consider all water in the US I would wager it takes quite a few employees to regularly test.
At any rate, the EPA responded to it and admitted to faults:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-michigan-water-epa-idUSKCN0UX2KZ
All in all seems like a good, honest response. Though again, a lot of the issues seem to be a lack of power and funds.
It was stupid. There should be a system of checks and balances in place. That is not a theory, it is how this works. It is a simple procedure to test a water source before deciding to use it. It is standardized. This is nothing new. The ball was dropped repeatedly by numerous people. If you don't know this to be correct then you are misinformed. No one will admit this readily because they don't want to come out and say "We are all incompetent".
The saddest part is there is a commonly used chemical product that would have prevented this contamination. It is not only commonly used and completely harmless to humans as well and plants and animals but it is affordable. It would not have increased the cost per year to use this new water source in an amount that anyone other than the person signing the check to the chemical supplier would notice. The function of this chemical is pretty simple. It takes corrosive water and makes it scale forming. That would have coated the pipes and fixtures that were leaching lead and created a barrier between the water and the metals.
Originally posted by snowdragon
I guess I'll plug myself on that clean up pollution bit again, FAR more important than climate change.
Why does it need to be one or the other, especially when they are basically intertwined? For example reducing certain things people think can cause climate change would also reduce pollution.,
Originally posted by Time-Immemorial
Where was the EPA on this one?Oh wait, Another big government failure.
The EPA was fighting with state officials who were refusing to work with them. I love how you somehow call this a problem of "big government," when this ****up was made by Republicans at multiple levels of state government.
Originally posted by Lucius
The EPA was fighting with state officials who were refusing to work with them. I love how you somehow call this a problem of "big government," when this ****up was made by Republicans at multiple levels of state government.
Like I don't blame republicans enough around here? They don't do shit about anything. This is still a Goverment failure and both parties share the blame.
Stop sticking to party lines dude. **** them all.
Oh look the EPA people are starting to resign
Originally posted by Time-Immemorial
Like I don't blame republicans enough around here? They don't do shit about anything. This is still a Goverment failure and both parties share the blame.Stop sticking to party lines dude. **** them all.
Lol, yeah, you have a reputation for being level headed and unbiased after all...
June 12, 2014: Flint water treatment plant announces plan to add more lime to the river water in response to customer complaints. Residents begin complaining about the color, odor and taste of their costly tap water not long after the city switches its drinking water supply to the Flint River.
At this point everyone was aware of the exact nature of the problem. Everyone from the guy at the plant to the people in charge of enforcement and everyone between. One Federal employee getting the ax does not explain why everyone knew yet nothing was done. There is no passing the buck here. The regulations do not allow it. Trust me, if it was a problem that could have been hung on a low ranking employee it already would have but because it can't there are no admissions of prior knowledge. There is no way possible that they didn't know if a feeble attempt to correct the problem was made. The attempt was in the right direction but weak.
These people did not get their jobs by showing up and breathing. They are educated trained competent professionals. Everyone from the bottom up refused to do what they know is right. Everyone. As long as the media does not understand who did and didn't what they will continue to blame the wrong person. The rules require people to write down exactly what they knew and did every day. That must be reviewed daily. Do you believe that engineers and biologists that work with water for a living did not understand what putting water with a low pH in an old distribution system would do? Do you think that the licensed operators at the plant producing this water did not know the consequences of these changes in the water? Let's blame some politician and not the people who have been entrusted to protect us. People who knew better screwed up and the politicians did nothing to make them. The Governor or any other single individual resigning will not make the other 40 or 50 people that allowed this to happen any more competent or committed to protecting the public.
The shitheads plan to charge the people for the poisoned water:
I mean..what the ****? I normally just censor the U in the F word but in this case no the full word needs to be said: WHAT THE ****
Apparently at least US 33 cities have been found to have cheated during their water tests, potentially concealing dangerous levels of lead. Including Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit and Milwaukee.
The EPA is a joke.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasland
That was a great and eye-opening documentary. One of the main EPA officials sat down on camera talking big game about how changes were coming, actions would be taken, etc. Eventually she begins to dodge all calls on the matter. In time she simply resigns. Later on in the film an EPA employee admits that all relief measures were temporary and that after enough corporate heads picked up the phone and called their friends in Washington any and all investigations were coming to an end and residents are on their own.
Honestly, we're also a joke. The people from surrounding areas don't say a peep unless it affects them. That's kind of the issue with the size of the U.S. The physical separation gives people that sense of "this won't happen to me", even when bigger cities are affected, sadly. Mass media may spread some of what's going on, but it also acts well to dull the sense of outrage. "Wow, that's horrible. I wonder what's on YouTube..."