Jackson, Mississippi water?

I did see photos of a tanker truck outside the governor's mansion, but haven't seen proof about misusing funds. It wouldn't be a shocker if it were true though. When the Federal government sends money to states, it's often misused or not used at all. We'd hope the funds could be earmarked for specific uses to avoid abusing the system. 

I feel so bad for the citizens not even having enough water to flush their toilets! My sister's neighborhood was without water for several months after there was a huge landslide that took out all of the infrastructure that provided water to her neighborhood. Officials sent several water trucks that were parked all along her street for people to get water from. My sister had to fill buckets to flush the toilet and she rigged up a new big trash can with a pond pump to create a shower that they could use. I hope they are providing water trucks for the town as well.

I'm glad someone started a thread. I almost made one yesterday, but wanted to be able to include more links to explain what was going on, and most of my links were going to videos I didn't want to watch.

My limited understanding is that it's been a known issue that the treatment plant was in trouble. Responsibility for the plant is by the city, not the state. Separately, Jackson has been experiencing white flight, leaving behind an insufficient tax base who could take on the $1-$2 billion estimate of what it will take to fix and upgrade the treatment plant. Recent storms and flooding caused the acute stage of the crisis.

IMO, it is a good representation of what the next generation will be facing. Inadequate infrastructure + climate change + "it's not my problem" = a state Capitol and a city of 150,000 being unable to have clean drinking water, and even insufficient water pressure to flush toilets and who knows what else in other, future crises. You depend on being able to flip on a light switch and the power turns on, turn on a faucet to get water, or flush the toilet. It will start in the economically stressed areas first. But look at Texas' power grid. Being in a wealthier era won't overcome mismanagement and necessary infrastructure can't appear overnight. The people with resources will move, stressing the systems of where they end up, and leaving behind big problems in the areas they left, for the ones who can't.

Anyway, here's an NPR article about Jackson.

www.npr.org/2022/08/31/1120166328/jackson-mississippi-water-crisis

the one photo I saw showed a tanker truck outside the fence on the road, sort of in front of ?? the governor's mansion... I would think if that truck was actually SUPPLYING the mansion, wouldn't it be a bit closer? Maybe actually inside the fence, or around, behind the building??



^^^  yup.  infrastructure all over the country has been aging and crumbling, and not kept up with the demands made on it (collapsing bridges, etc.) and we hear about it every once in a while when it happens as a huge disaster.  But it seems like they hardly ever pass the legislation to actually FIX any of it.  (hopefully they're doing it and we're just not hearing about it, but somehow, I doubt it.)  

Take a deep breath....

Mississippi wasted welfare funds on Brett Favre speeches he never made
Bob Brigham
September 01, 2022

With schools closed in Jackson and water out at the Mississippi state Capitol, the state is struggling through a different scandal about broken government services.

Brett Favre earned nearly $140 million as a star NFL quarterback over two decades and millions more in product endorsements," NBC News reported. "But that didn’t stop the state of Mississippi from paying Favre $1.1 million in 2017 and 2018 to make motivational speeches — out of federal welfare funds intended for needy families. The Mississippi state auditor said Favre never gave the speeches and demanded the money back, with interest.

The payment was reportedly directed by former GOP Gov. Phil Bryant.

"Favre has repaid the fees, although not the $228,000 in interest the auditor also demanded," NBC News reported. "But the revelation by the auditor that $70 million in TANF welfare funds was doled out to a multimillionaire athlete, a professional wrestler, a horse farm and a volleyball complex are at the heart of a scandal that has rocked the nation’s poorest state, sparking parallel state and federal criminal investigations that have led to charges and guilty pleas involving some of the key players."

www.rawstory.com/nation-s-poorest-state-used-welfare-money-to-pay-brett-favre-for-speeches-he-never-made/

There is more....

The capitol building has portable toilets. But, they're not the regular port-o-potties, they're the fancy ones on a trailer. Reeves, not surprisingly, blamed the problems on the Democratic mayor and poor management.

www.washingtonpost.com/national/mississippi-capitals-water-disaster-developed-over-decades/2022/09/01/e37a0fce-2a37-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html

Broken water and sewer pipes are also common in Mississippi’s largest city. The Environmental Protection Agency told Jackson months ago that its water system violates the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

In 2020, Reeves vetoed legislation that would have let Jackson forgive at least a portion of the unpaid water bills for poor people.

At the same time, Mississippi is slashing taxes. This year, Reeves signed the state’s largest-ever tax cut, which will reduce revenue by an estimated $185 million the first year and $525 million the final year.

The governor argued that cutting the income tax would “lead to more wealth for all Mississippians,” even as one of the poorest states in the nation struggles to support schools and rural hospitals.

National news said that the residents have been boiling water for at least 6 months and this is a long term problem.
A mayor predicted this happening several years ago.

I am left wondering: Why have all the councils been ignoring the problem for years?

The city of Jackson has had serious infrastructure problems for decades. I heard the current mayor speak about the issues about 5 years ago, and it had already been a problem through several administrations. At the time, he said they could only put band-aids on the problems - the infrastructure was too far gone and would be far too expensive for the city to fix. Plus, like Rhondito said, the city government is a hot mess and rumors of corruption are everywhere. Some of their city council meetings have gone at least locally viral due to the fighting and posturing. Plus, the city water department's billing is insanely and frustratingly inconsistent. I pay the bills for an organization and sometimes have to wait 6 months between bills.

After heavy flooding last week, the municipal pumps failed, and a lot of even deeper issues were uncovered, including lack of staffing at the municipal water plant and broken equipment. This affected the higher elevation areas that include downtown - the governor's mansion and state buildings - and a lot of local businesses. My daughter's dorm has not had drinking water all semester (and some of last semester), and showering and flushing have been off and on this week (mostly off) while the pumps are being replaced. Her classes switched to virtual most of the week, and a decision hasn't been made about next week yet. She hasn't come home yet, but I'm sure she will cry uncle before long. The college announced today that they will be building their own water supply so that they don't have to rely on the city's supply in the future.

I wouldn't blame the governor for having a tanker outside the mansion - he still has a household and administration operating downtown, but I read that it is for the Trustmark Bank building, and the placement of the truck is closer to the Trustmark building. If it was for the mansion, it would be more discrete actually on the grounds of the mansion. But, if you look at the pictures of the tanker, you might spot some nice pictures of my church in the background.

As horrifying as the situation is in Jackson, this is sadly not uncommon. Those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to flip a switch for reliable electricity and turn on a faucet for clean, safe drinking water don't often realize that so much of our infrastructure here in the US is outdated, broken, or has never been installed to what we might believe are acceptable standards of living.

This is an article that I used last semester in my Environmental Science class when teaching about Environmental Injustice. Raw Sewage in Rural Alabama

Some highlights from the article:
In Lowndes County (AL), which is majority Black, the poverty rate is 22 percent, which is about double the national average. At least 40 percent of homes have inadequate or no sewage systems. As a result, many residents use PVC pipes to carry waste from homes into open holes in the ground, a method known as “straight piping.”



“I call it America’s dirty secret,” “Because it largely exists in rural communities and poor communities, and most people, when they find out about it, they’re shocked. They don’t believe that it’s a reality in this country.”



“It’s not necessary for this to be going on in 2022,” said Smith, 59. “It just shouldn’t be in the United States. It shouldn’t be. This is the wealthiest country. A sewage system should be a right.”