Progressives (Liberals)

It was the EPA's job to ensure our water quality if state and local regulators were ineffective. The EPA didn't do their job. It's Obama's fault that they didn't do their job.

I'd be interested in hearing who on the state or local level was responsible for the decision to not add the proper treatment chemicals to the water supply, but this does not absolve Obama of his failure to protect the people of Flint.

Middle class households have filtering systems too. But we don't have mansions.

Poor people's children have developed brain damage because of toxins in their drinking water.

Before they knew it was toxic.

Yes. Obama really screwed over the people of Flint.

Yeah, well that's not anything new.


Here in NYC it took severe legal action to finally get NYCHA apartments (Public Housing) properly inspected to determine if there was any lead paint in the apartments. (this is under Presidential candidate Mayor Bill DeBlasio, and may be a few years before completion)

I guess you have forgotten the posts you have made defending the water quality in Flint. It was a pretty spirited discussion by several member decrying the dreadful water conditions and you jumped in with both feet claiming the water was AOK. In fact you called a number of people 'liars' because they remarked it wasn't yet fixed (it still isn't). So which is it? Huh? Is the water cleaned up or are the citizens of Flint still drinking poluted Flint River water?

By the way, Trump has rolled back funding for the EPA.......got rid of a lot of those pesky regulations.................and the EPA's job was never to double check the State and City planners. However, I'm sure that if conservatives wish for Flint to have clean water they will make sure they get it.


From Wikipedia:


Former Governor
Rick Snyder and his administration were widely blamed for the mistakes that led to the crisis, with numerous people calling for his resignation. He left office on December 31, 2018 due to term limits.


The Flint drinking water contamination began in April 2014 when Flint changed its water source from treated Detroit Water and Sewerage Department water (sourced from Lake Huron and the Detroit River) to the Flint River. Officials failed to apply corrosion inhibitors to the water. As a result, several problems occurred that culminated with lead contamination, creating a serious public health danger.[7] The Flint River water that was treated improperly caused lead from aging pipes to leach into the water supply, leading to extremely elevated levels of the heavy metal neurotoxin. In Flint, between 6,000 and 12,000 children have been exposed to drinking water with high levels of lead and they may experience a range of serious health problems.[1] Due to the change in water source, the percentage of Flint children with elevated blood-lead levels may have risen from about 2.5% in 2013 to as much as 5% in 2015.[8] The water change is also a possible cause of an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in the county that has killed 12 people and affected another 87.[9]

Several lawsuits have been filed against government officials on the issue, and several investigations have been opened. On January 5, 2016, the city was declared to be in a state of emergency by the Governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder, before President Barack Obama declared it to be in a federal state of emergency, authorizing additional help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security less than two weeks later.[10]

Four government officials—one from the city of Flint, two from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), and one from the Environmental Protection Agency—resigned over the mishandling of the crisis, and one additional MDEQ staff member was fired. There have also been fifteen criminal cases filed against local and state officials in regards to the crisis.[11]"""

You can pull up the Wikipedia piece and read thru if you want to figure out who are the responsible Michigan politicians .........
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Personally I'm more interested in making sure these reckless things don't happen ever again.

What always the surprises me is who is said to be responsible for the drink water quality in the USA.
Here, in Germany, it's the local supplier (and the house/building owner for the pipes inside the building).
The water quality can be seen on the invoice and online.

Well, it's not uniform all over the country. Where I live in Annapolis there are so many salt water rivers, streams, creeks that flow into the Chesapeake and from there then out to the Atlantic. '''' I'll try to explain how it's handled in my County. But I'll get back to you in a few hours...right now I think I should really go to sleep. It's 3AM here and I need to be back up in a few hours.

I remember my posts, and I didn't defend anything. I merely questioned why there would still be problems with the water considering that they switched to Detroit water with extra orthophosphates back in October 2015.



No, I questioned why there would still be a problem with the water.



No I didn't.



Why not? They switched to Detroit water with extra orthophosphates back in October 2015.



There has not been river water in Flint's pipes since October 2015.



Wrong. The EPA is supposed to ensure that we have clean drinking water. Obama just didn't feel like doing his job.

Is there a part of the country where the EPA lacks jurisdiction over drinking water quality?

That was my question.
So you don't have water companies?
I'd thought, you had.

If you have them, what's there job?

I think there are some sort of public utilities that supply water in cities. I presume that they are under the control of local government.

Federal regulators (theoretically) oversee them and ensure that the water supply is safe.

What if the supplier starts providing bad water?

Are there no regulatory authorities to step in and prevent that?

Well, when they regular tests show "bad water", the supply is stopped.
The local health authorities monitor compliance with the drinking water ordinance. (The water supply companies are obliged to supply their customers with drinking water at the end of the house connection pipe in the quality regulated by the Drinking Water Ordinance ["Trinkwasserverordnung", national law according to EU-law])

"Prevented" is such of course not by the regular, mandatory tests.
Are there constant tests in the USA?

Who’s (maybe) to blame for Flint’s water?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/23/flint-water-crisis-governor-rick-snyder-criminal-trials

(This is an old article)

Excerpt:
Flint activists still waiting as governor escapes fallout of water crisis
This week it will be four years since the calamity of Flint switching its water source, and activists are angry Rick Snyder is still in office

Oliver Milman
@olliemilman
Mon 23 Apr 2018 06.00 EDT
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare via Email
1 year old
The lead poisoning crisis that swept Flint was, for a time, expected to fell Rick Snyder, the governor of Michigan. But the start of criminal trials of those deemed responsible for the disaster has stirred outrage in Flint at the prospect that the governor will pay no price for what happened on his watch.
Neither Snyder, nor any of his closest aides, are among the 15 people identified by Michigan attorney general Bill Schuette as being criminally responsible for allowing lead to leech into Flint’s drinking water in April 2014 and failing to deal with its deadly consequences.
Wednesday will be four years since Flint’s water switched to the Flint river, without lead corrosion controls, prompting the public health crisis.
“No one is above the law, not on my watch,” Schuette, who is running to replace term-limited Snyder this year, has vowed. But no crime has been been established against the governor, Schuette stressed.
Flint water crisis: five takeaways from Rick Snyder's emails
As it stands, Snyder will be able to round off his eight-year tenure in January and return to the private sector, where he forged a sizable personal fortune via venture capital and technology before he ran for office. The technocratic Republican, whose Twitter handle is @onetoughnerd, would exit with little worse than some gloomy approval ratings.

10 Things They Won't Tell You About the Flint Water Tragedy. But I Will.
By Michael Moore
https://michaelmoore.com/10FactsOnFlint/

JFC, I hadn't known a lot of that. I did know they switched Flint to a different source and it was no good, but the rest of the story is hideous. I think Obama threw some money at it, but ultimately, to no avail.

I haven't verified all of Moore's claims, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were all true.

This is the single worst problem in America. There is no accountability for anything. There are millions of us all around the country who despise corruption like this, but who have no recourse.

Bradley Whitford, Josh on West Wing, is a Dem First VoteBlue guy usually, but he's tired of Pelosi. Made me happy to see this in my feed this morning.

Bradley Whitford
‏
Verified account

@WhitfordBradley
Following @WhitfordBradley

I’m sorry, @SpeakerPelosi, but it feels like you’re focused on consolidating your own power rather than risking the power you have to help us in our direst moment. I’m the most sympathetic audience you have. If you’re losing me, you’re in trouble.
Bradley Whitford
‏
Verified account

@WhitfordBradley

We mobilized to take back the House to put a check on this dangerous president NOW. Not so we can wait until the next election. Where are the hearings? Where are the tax returns? Our democracy is dying. What are you doing @SpeakerPelosi? Attacking @AOC???

Moore is generally correct in his facts; he's got half the country's repuke pundits trying to fact-check him, so he'd better be. He lives in Flint, too.

He was right when he predicted a Trump win in 2016. Nobody believed him on the left though. It always stroke me how the US has some of the best minds in the world -- including Michael Moore, whom I respect immensely -- but has very little time and respect for them. It's almost as if intelligence was seen as 'unamerican'...

That is incorrect. Moore spouts falsehoods all the time. This article is no exception to that rule.