Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2016 20:48:12 GMT
I read the emails Darcy Collins posted yesterday. And while the EPA certainly dropped the ball in the testing of the water the State officials response when the problem with the water first surfaced was just disgraceful.
You had the officials making statements in a 9/25/2015 email "we have put an incredible amount of time and effort into this issue because of the impacted neighbors and their children."
But it then one day later " Now we have the "anti everything group" turning to the lead content which is a concern for everyone, but DEQ and DHHS and EPA can't find evidence of major change per Geralyn's memo below. Of course , some of the Flint people respond by looking for someone to blame instead of reducing the anxiety". I suspect if it was the folks of Ann Arbor looking for someone to blame a much different response would have been given.
However by 9/28/15 some state senator drafted a response to the water problem in Flint. I thought it was somewhat reasonable until this part. " I have been working with philanthropic community and private sector to secure donations to acquire filters and water. Ask for emergency funds to supplement the acquisition of water filters and bottled water." Really, the State screwed up switching the Flint water supply and their bright idea is to look for donations of water and filters? Yes it's the state that is responsible because even before the problem with lead surfaced the water was not clear and stunk. Would you want to drink that water?
A large % of the folks in Flint are poor and another idea was floated that they could pay for bottled water from SNAP funds while they continue to pay their water bill. Paying for water they can't use.
When it became clear there was a problem with the Flint water the state played with the idea of putting Flint back on the Detroit water but felt the cost was too high and the state had sold the delivery system once they took Flint off Detroit water.
I quit reading the emails dated around the first week of October as they were ridiculous in their lack of willingness to want to help these folks.
What is missing from these emails are the ones from when the decision was originally made to remove Flint from Detroit water. So at this point we have no idea what if any due diligence the state's emergency manager did before recommending the change.
The lead poisoning in the water is bad enough but I just don't get how it was acceptable in the first place to state officials that it was ok the residents had stinky colored water to drink. Especially when it was water provided by the city at the direction of the emergency manager/state and then to add insult to injury the citizens had to pay for it. But I guess if you are poor or black or poor and black it's ok.