#DWSD

[ewwwsierra]

mitski w essay writing music????

[ausetkmt]

DETROIT – Detroit city leaders promised to fix 1,300 broken fire hydrants within a month after a Local 4 investigation revealed the extent of the problem.

The city approved a $7 million contract to repair hydrants and pay for crews to do the work. At first, the city said Local 4 could follow the crews out and show them making repairs. However, after the Local 4 story aired, Karen Drew was told that officials didn’t like the way the story turned out and would not work with Local 4 in getting video of crews fixing the broken hydrants.

Read: How 1K broken fire hydrants across Detroit could be putting your home, business at risk

This story began when a firefighter reached out to Local 4 and reported that broken fire hydrants in Detroit were a big issue. Local 4 found out that around 1,300 were broken and residents were upset.

One month ago, Local 4 spoke to Gary Brown, the Director of Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD), which is in charge of maintaining hydrants. Brown said that the city had a goal of fixing all of the broken fire hydrants in 30 days.

An insider within the fire department shared a record with Local 4 that showed which hydrants were still broken. As of Wednesday, more than 600 fire hydrants are still listed as inoperable.

Some of those fire hydrants are pouring water into the streets. A hydrant off Rosa Parks Boulevard was running for days, according to a source. The city said the hydrant was in their work order system, and they were fixing around 80 each day.

Karen Drew asked, “But this is in an area with residents. I just don’t understand how it can be broken. The water is coming out in the street for four days -- that is not a priority?” Karen Drew was willing to do an on-camera interview if they changed their minds, but officials only provided a statement.

Read: Detroit dedicates $7M to fix broken fire hydrants across the city

Brown and Charles Simms, Interim Executive Fire Commissioner of the Detroit Fire Department, issued the following joint statement:

“The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) maintains fire hydrants while the Detroit Fire Department (DFD) inspects the hydrants annually and uses them for fire suppression. Detroit has more density of fire hydrants than any other major Midwest city. Our counterparts have fire hydrants 500-feet apart, while in Detroit hydrants are 300-feet apart. DFD rigs have 1,500 feet of fire hose. Therefore, if a hydrant is out of service for repair, they can quickly hook up to the next available hydrant. Firefighters are able to see available hydrants using a mobile-friendly dashboard.

“It is normal for us to see a slight increase in the number of hydrants that need repair - many of which are still operational - after DFD conducts its winter inspections. This is a process that allows us to know where a non-functioning hydrant may be located so it can be repaired BEFORE it is needed by firefighters. Numbers change daily but what we know is that 96% of our nearly 30,000 hydrants are operational today, still giving Detroiters a greater density of hydrants than other midwestern city. At this time last year, approximately 7% of our hydrants were in need of repair and by summer it was down to less than 2%.

“DWSD starts with priority one repairs which are in critical areas such as near hospitals, nursing homes and schools, as well as clusters of hydrants in need of repair to make sure there is a working hydrant available for emergencies. For more than six years, DWSD has performed the winter repairs and by spring/summer less than 2% of the hydrants are inoperable.

“It is misleading to the public to not include these facts in news stories. This process happens annually due to inspections and cold weather, when the number of hydrants in need of repair increases. DWSD makes fire hydrant maintenance a priority, much like we do water main breaks that place our residents and businesses temporarily without water service. The public can be assured that the City of Detroit has a collaborative process to address hydrants in need of repair all year round.

“Since the week of Jan. 23, DWSD crews and our contractor have been repairing 350 fire hydrants per week and will be complete in two weeks with the current list of inoperable hydrants.”

What about the fire hydrant pouring water into the street?

But what about that fire hydrant on the city’s west side that was spewing water into the street?

“So it’s OK to just let this water go into the street and have people pay for it?” Karen Drew asked.

“Well, people don’t pay for it as they are charged for the water -- they are charged based on the meter usage at their house,” Brown said.

“I understand that, but at the end of the day, taking water and spewing it into the street is a waste,” Drew said.

The city would not budge. They continued to say the hydrant was not a priority. After Drew hung up, officials did ask for the address of the hydrant. Officials sent a crew to shut the water off, but they did not fix the hydrant.

“We’re in a constant worry about it because of how lacking our water department is with repairs. They absolutely have affected us fighting a fire because when we go to a bad hydrant, we then have to go to the next hydrant, which is approximately 500 feet away, so that takes up time to get there, and there have been instances of three or four bad hydrants in a row, and that further delays us. Fire doubles in size approximately every 35 to 45 seconds, so time does matter,” a Detroit firefighter said.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan’s spokesperson John Roach released the following statement:

”In December, the Mayor sat down with Gary Brown and told him he wanted a plan to speed up fire hydrant repairs. Director Brown immediately assigned DWSD staff to begin repairs supported by a $7 million plan to supplement those efforts with outside contractors implemented in January.

“The plan would complete the repairs by the end of February. At the start of each Wednesday cabinet meeting, Director Brown begins by reporting to the Mayor the number of fire hydrant repairs made the previous week. In yesterday’s report, Director Brown indicated 350 repairs had been made last week, fewer than 700 hydrant repairs are remaining, and he expects those to be repaired in the next two weeks.

“He indicated that of 30,000 fire hydrants in the city, more than 29,000 are operable today. We expect the entire backlog to be completed in the next two weeks and from then going forward, we expect hydrants to be repaired timely on an ongoing basis.”

[1iam]

[fy-wonwoo]

230709 tencent music entertainment awards 2023. DWS'd_w 🐱 do not edit/crop logo. 

[pine-niidles]

April Project Updates

Hiya! I hope you've had a good April. Me, not so much. The month started still heavy with artblock and outside of art I've also not been feeling great. At the very least I've kept up with regular life drawing but I decided pretty early on to focus on making progress on things I needed to get done unrelated to art. It's possible I did just need that time to rest as in the last couple of weeks the artblock has been going away! I've been able to slowly make progress on my art pieces without hating every step :) In other positive news the tree outside my kitchen window has fully regrown its leaves & there are lots of beautiful flowers growing on my regular walking path to the pool. 

2023 Sketchbook

The finish your project jam helped give me that last boost I needed to finish putting together my 2023 sketchbook pdf, which is a mix of my physical sketchbooks & misc digital art from last year. You can get a copy on itch.io.

2024 Hourly Comics Day

Same as above, I did the last couple of steps I needed to finish my hourly comics day pdf, also up on itch.io. 

There's very little new there, I just wanted to have all the hourly strips together in one easy to read place + share the printable booklet version that I made for myself in case anyone else was interested in printing themselves a copy.

Impractical but Cool Fantasy Swords

I've been chipping away at this zine in my off time for a while, now I just have these last 6 swords to finish shading and then finalizing the layout for the whole zine.

​Hopefully marking this as done will help push the last bit of artblock out of my system and I can get back to drawing new things rather than just finishing old art!

Life Drawing

I don't normally share day to day life drawing in these updates but since it's pretty much all the art I've got to show this month here are a few of my fav sketches from April:

Plans for May:

​Zines

I currently have 4 small-medium zine ideas bouncing around my head, I'd like to finish two of them this month but I'm undecided which two.

Don't Wake the Sleeping Dragon

There's a lot to rework with DWSD mechanics based on feedback from the first playtest, the biggest change will be that I'm no longer trying to keep it to two pages max. That was an ambitious goal for my first ever ttrpg, and letting go of it will give me a lot more freedom to explain the rules a little better and add mechanics to facilitate rp. I'm aiming to get a second playtest draft out this month & to start on some art for it.

[goldennika]

OK THEY WANT ME DWSD FOR REAL BC ETENRALLY 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[madamedesoul]

dwsd

Another You (Another Way) [x]

more gifs:

001: x

002: x

003 (red): x

004 (large): x

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[cleanwaterchronicles]

Can a stormwater study help Metro Detroit communities get along?

author: Brian Allnutt

A new study is looking for ways to promote regional stormwater cooperation in southeast Michigan, where floods in 2014 and 2021 caused more than a billion dollars in damage in each instance.

There’s a “clear consensus the stormwater issue is getting worse,” said Carol Miller, director of Wayne State’s Healthy Urban Waters program. According to the 4th National Climate Assessment, extreme rainfall and flooding are likely among the most serious impacts of climate change in the Midwest.

Miller and colleagues from the University of Michigan and Michigan State University are working on the Michigan Center for Freshwater Innovation study. The goal is to see how flooding could be mitigated by pooling resources, especially land, which might be used to sequester stormwater and reduce the pressure on regional sewer systems during heavy rains.

The Great Lakes Water Authority and Detroit Water and Sewerage Department will be helping investigators with surveys and data gathering. Researchers will also be hosting listening sessions and bringing community members into advisory committees to produce a plan for local governments and utilities, which they expect to have completed within the next two years.

This effort could help communities move past the sometimes-bitter infighting that Miller says is “to be expected” for a system as large as the one served by the GLWA. 

In April 2022, several communities in Macomb County threatened to withhold payment to GLWA because of Highland Park’s water debts, which they said were inflating their own costs. And Warren Mayor Jim Fouts said in December 2022 that he was considering building a “dam” or “blockade” at the city’s border to stop sewage discharges from coming down the Red Run Drain from neighboring Oakland County.

Miller says an important part of the Center’s work will be mapping land for future stormwater projects, looking at vegetation, soil type, planned development, existing sewer pipes, and legacy pollution that could be released if the ground is disturbed. 

These maps can then be used to find sites for either green infrastructure, like retention ponds and rain gardens, which slow water movement into sewers to prevent flooding, or gray infrastructure, such as storm sewers or underground reservoirs.

Several recent stormwater catchment projects along the Rouge River are part of an effort to reduce basement and roadway flooding on Detroit’s west side. But Miller says that projects in more “upstream” areas outside of Detroit could do more to keep precipitation out of the system. 

These could help prevent flooding and sewer overflows when combined sewer and stormwater systems like Detroit’s receive too much water and discharge untreated or partially treated sewage into waterways. A 2022 Erb Family Foundation study supports Miller’s conclusion, finding that green infrastructure in metro Detroit may make the most sense in outlying areas.

Upstream solutions could also give the city better choices when dealing with combined sewage and stormwater. For example, Bryan Peckinpaugh, spokesperson for the DWSD, recently told Planet Detroit that the city’s plan for a “relief sewer” on the east side of Detroit would send untreated, combined sewage directly into the Detroit River. This would keep it out of basements, which would pose a serious public health threat, but send it into waterways, where it also presents a serious public health threat.

Yet, it may take a trusted authority to get communities to a point where they can move past their conflicts to work towards solutions that benefit the entire “sewershed” or drainage area that flows into the regional systems.

“I do believe that it’s very important that there is an identified champion… that has the respect of communities involved in these decision-making efforts,” Miller said.

Although the GLWA and Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) perform this function in some ways by mobilizing regional resources and setting rules, Miller suggests that a new agency may be needed to build a consensus for the best path forward on stormwater management.

This entity might resemble the International Joint Commission, where Miller serves on the Science Advisory Board. This quasi-governmental organization has operated since 1909, marshaling resources in the U.S. and Canada to address cross-border issues like Great Lakes water quality and air pollution. Appointed commissioners operate independently of their national governments and traditionally work by consensus.

“I think the IJC has been very successful because of the long-term vision and not steeped in any four-year or two-year political leadership,” Miller said. “People know that they can count on it and not worry about ‘oh, in two more years, we have different political leadership, and it’s going to change again.’”

Source: https://planetdetroit.org/2023/02/can-a-stormwater-study-help-metro-detroit-communities-get-along/

[soniadber]

🔹️At @apec2022th Secretary DWSD 🔹️@erwintulforeal 🔹️@erwin_tulfo_official @philippines.manila By our writer/columnist 🔹️@cellediaz 🔹️Column: @siamliving 🔹️@manilaupmagazine 🔹️@bangkokcity_thailand #summit #asianpacific #apec #manila #manilamagazine #secretary #dwsd #erwintulfo #philippines🇵🇭 (at Bangkok, Thailand) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cmhhx0Lv9sC/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[b0neless-gh0st]

Part 6

*I'm kidding*

.

[wlw-mess]

me: anyway my depression is just bad tonight

friend: you’re so great!! don’t be down on yourself!! :)

me: uh I never said I wasn’t great bc I aM and I’m not being hard on myself rn

[fy-wonwoo]

230709 tencent music entertainment awards 2023. DWS'd_w 🐱 do not edit/crop logo. 

[fatehbaz]

Sources for thousands of Detroit residents without water access for years; Detroit lead poisoning; history of how Nestle conquered Michigan water; and how Flint residents pay the state more in utility fees in a single month for water access in a single household than Nestle pays the state in an entire year to extract 130 million gallons of water.

A response to this:

I hope these sources might help.

Just for geographic context:

---------------------

Nestle, which earns over $7 billion in annual bottled water sales, pays a once-a-year $200 administrative fee to extract over 130 million gallons of water from Evart, while people are poisoned and die in nearby Flint, where a single months’ water utility bill is over $200.

[Source: Jessica Glenza. “Nestle pays $200 a year to bottle water near Flint -- where water is undrinkable.” The Guardian. 29 September 2017.]

Flint became synonymous with lead-poisoned water after government officials, looking to save money, switched the city’s water supply from Detroit city water to water from the corrosive Flint river. Once the city had switched, the number of children with elevated lead exposure doubled; residents reported unexplained rashes and losing hair. An unpublished study recently found fetal deaths in Flint increased by 58% during the crisis. [...] Despite having endured lead-laden tap water for years, Flint pays some of the highest water rates in the US. Several residents cited bills upwards of $200 per month for tap water they refuse to touch. But just two hours away, in the tiny town of Evart, creeks lined by wildflowers run with clear water. The town is so small, the fairground, McDonald’s, high school and church are all within a block. But in a town of only 1,503 people, there are a dozen wells pumping water from the underground aquifer. This is where the beverage giant Nestle pumps almost 100,000 times what an average Michigan resident uses into plastic bottles that are sold all over the Midwest for around $1. To use this natural resource, Nestle pays $200 per year. Now, Nestle wants more Michigan water. In a recent permit application, the company asked to pump 210 million gallons per year from Evart, a 60% increase, and for no more than it pays today. [...] In a state where officials denied Flint’s water was poisoned with lead; where Detroit residents choose between heat and water; where the water-borne, pneumonia-like legionnaire’s disease killed a dozen; and where gastrointestinal bugs spread among residents who lacked (or didn’t trust) water, Nestle’s request seemed like salt on a wound.

-------------------------

While thousands in Detroit have no water access, even people with water access have high rates of lead poisoning; in one Detroit zip code in 2017, 22% of tested children exhibited lead poisoning.

[Source: Karen Bouffard and Christine MacDonal. “Detroit kids’ lead poisoning rates higher than Flint.” The Detroit News. 14 November 2017.]

Detroit had Michigan’s highest proportion of children test positive for lead poisoning in 2016 — 8.8 percent of kids tested — including one ZIP code where 22 percent were found to have lead poisoning. Data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services show children are being sickened by lead in counties from Manistee to Hillsdale and St. Clair, though the rates of lead poisoning in Flint continue to improve.

---------------------------

In 2020,  Michigan institutions and judges continue to allow Nestle to pay minor administrative fee of $200 per each water extraction facility, as Nestle extracts over half a million gallons every single day from single individual wells (ie: just one annual fee of $200 for the Evart well).

[Source: Garret Ellison. “Nestle wins legal challenge to Michigan groundwater extraction.” MLive. 28 April 2020.]

A state administrative judge has upheld a permit that allows global food and beverage giant Nestle to boost the amount of Michigan groundwater it extracts for sale under the Ice Mountain bottled water brand. In a decision dated April 24 [2020], Judge Dan Pulter ruled that Nestle’s plans to withdrawal 576,000 gallons of groundwater per day from the headwaters of two cold water trout streams in Osceola County will not negatively impact the surrounding natural resources. Concerns were raised about potential impacts to Muskegon River watershed and the tiny $200 annual paperwork fee Nestle pays per facility to extract millions of gallons of Michigan groundwater to sell for profit. [...] Much of the broader opposition was from those upset that Nestle could source groundwater at essentially no cost while people in Flint were drinking water contaminated by bacteria and lead, and low-income residents of Detroit were having their taps shut off for non-payment.

--------------------------

Nestle pumped over 2.5 billion gallons from a Mescota County well; Nestle has now pumped over 1 billion gallons from the Evart wells; the Osceola well now supplies millions of gallons a year.

[Source: Garret Ellison. “Nestle in Michigan: Unpacking the water battle backstory.” MLive. 26 December 2016. Updated 20 May 2019.]

Nestle made a deal [...] to drill four high-capacity wells at their 600-acre private hunting preserve in Morton Township [...]. The water is pumped 12 miles west to Stanwood. [...] The Sanctuary wells pumped more than 2.5 billion gallons between 2005 and 2015. [...] Nestle pumped at 400 gallons-per-minute until Mecosta County Judge Lawrence Root ordered it stopped in 2003 [...]. When Judge Root ordered the pumping stopped, Nestle looked north for another supply. The company found a willing partner in the city of Evart, which has sold Nestle more than 905 million gallons of Twin Creek spring water [...]. Evart wells have accounted for roughly a quarter of Nestle's total Michigan supply since 2005, but in 2014 Nestle discovered traces of perchlorate in its water. The toxic chemical, which is linked to thyroid problems in women and children, came from the Evart well field, which became contaminated with decades of Fourth of July fireworks ash. [...] When Nestle shut down one of its Evart wells because of the pollution, it looked to offset the capacity loss by increasing the pumping rate of an older well it owns in Osceola Township, [...] Nestle did not really use it much until 2011. Since then, the well has supplied more than 45 million gallons. Almost 70 percent of that total volume was pumped in 2015 alone.

-----------------------------------

To gain uninhibited access to water extraction sites, Nestle merges with local government institutions and deliberately targets rural, isolated, or “economically-depressed” communities.

[Source: Franklin Frederick. “Nestle: Multinationals as the New Colonial Powers. A tale of Many Cities.” Defend Democracy Press. 22 December 2019.]

In 2002 Nestle hired John Hedley, an ex-MI6 agent – British military   intelligence – as Head of Security. Among other things, Hedley was   responsible for organizing an operation to spy on civil society groups critical to Nestle in Switzerland, mainly the ATTAC group. When this operation was unveiled by a Swiss investigative journalist that denounced it in the Swiss TV, Nestle had to face a court case and was condemned by the Swiss justice for it. In Wellington County, Nestle Waters Canada has permission to extract 4.7 million litres of water a day in wells at Hillsburgh and Aberfoyle and according to Mike Balkwill from Wellington Water Watchers, “the company has applied to renew those permits, while it extracts water without the consent of Six Nations, on whose territory it operates, and despite public opposition from several indigenous organizations.” [...] The situation is the same in Florida where although the local water authority considers that the water system is in recovery from over-exploitation, Nestle still wants to pump water from Ginnie Springs. The common pattern emerging from these and other cases – in the State of Michigan or in the small city of Sao Lourenco in Brazil – also shows that [...] in many places Nestle “merges” with the local authorities, as in Maine where a Nestle manager was on the State’s environmental protection agency board [...]. Recently, the ex-Nestle’s Head of Public Affairs, Christian Frutiger, was appointed Vice-Director of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation – SDC, the Swiss Government Agency responsible for Development Aid programmes – where he will be responsible for SDC’s  Global WATER program! [...]

--------------------------------------

The source of America’s corporate water crisis can be traced back to 1976 when Perrier, now owned by Nestle, opened an office in New York. By 2016, bottled water sales had surpassed soda as the largest US beverage category [...]. Nestle Waters’ 2018 worldwide sales exceeded $7.8 billion. [...] Ultimately, the debate’s particulars lead back to a question at the heart of the issues: should water be commodified and sold by private industry, or is it a basic human right? Former Nestle chief executive and chariman Peter Brabeck labeled the latter viewpoint “extreme” and  called water a “grocery product” that should “have market value.” He later amended that, arguing 25 liters of water daily is a “human right,” but water used [for purposes other than drinking, bathing, etc.] shouldn’t be free. [Source: Tom Perkins. “The fight to stop Nestle from taking America’s water to sell in plastic bottles.” The Guardian. 29 October 2019.]

--------------------------------

Tens of thousands of Detroit residents have been without water access since 2014; Detroit water contaminated with giardia, shigellosis, lead; Detroit administrators refused until the pandemic to even declare the water shutoffs a “public health issue,” and Michigan officials blame poor people for spending money on “luxury cell phones” instead of their water utility bills.

[Source: Nina Misuraca Ignaczak. “Detroit Water Shutoffs and a Crisis of Public Health.” Belt Magazine. 9 March 2020.]

The water crisis in Detroit began in earnest in 2014, during the city’s bankruptcy proceedings, when the DWSD abruptly shut off water service to tens of thousands of Detroit residents for nonpayment. [...] But activists have been fighting for years to get the city to recognize water shutoffs as a matter of public health. [...] Since the start, Bouier and other water activists have been fighting a narrative that assigns blame primarily to those impacted by the shutoffs. Early on, officials perpetuated the idea that residents were simply lazy and irresponsible. One official suggested that Detroiters should go down to the Detroit River with a bucket to fetch water. Then-emergency manager Kevyn Orr suggested that customers would rather pay for “luxuries” like cell phones than water. [...] As of early March [2020], activists had renewed their calls to the governor to enact a moratorium [on water utility shutoffs in Detroit], linking poor sanitation to an increased risk of Coronavirus. “Michigan residents have particular reason to fear the  spread of coronavirus because the ongoing deprivation of tens of thousands of people from basic access to water and sanitation […]” the group’s statement reads. “Residents deprived of water in their homes have been sharing or borrowing water at an alarming  rate – 80% in one study – creating a transmission path for coronavirus, as  well as hepatitis A, shigellosis, campylobacter, and giardia, all of which have been plausibly linked to the shutoffs by health officials.”

[wellthatwasaletdown]

So, Harry filmed the Eternals scene in January 2021 during reshoots. In the middle of DWD filming.

What happened to all of their stringent COVID-19 protocols? How was he able to go to another filming location, with a different crew, and work on a different movie when DWsd had already been shut down once because someone tested positive for COVID-19? Was it during the holiday break after their big coming out pap walk? Or maybe he just got permission from the director? I'm sure she didn't show him any favoritism on set because she's so professional. No wonder Flo has nothing to do with those assholes.

https://news.yahoo.com/eternals-introduces-important-character-mcu-013300689.html

[phgq]

Sotto backs inclusion of middle class in gov’t aid program

#PHnews: Sotto backs inclusion of middle class in gov’t aid program

MANILA – Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Wednesday said the government should expand the coverage of its relief assistance, and include formal and middle-income workers whose sources of income and livelihood have been crippled by the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

"Government assistance should cover ALL those who are affected by the lockdown. Even middle-income needs help. Nawalan din naman sila ng pagkakitaan, nabawasan din ang kanilang source of income (They also lost their livelihood, their sources of income were also reduced)," Sotto said in a press statement.

"I totally agree that we should help the poor deal with the current situation. But we should also provide assistance to the other sectors of our society. They, too, are also experiencing difficulties because of the work stoppage in all industries. The government should also extend a helping hand to them," he said.

The government is currently giving PHP 5,000 to PHP 8,000 in monthly financial assistance to the "poorest of the poor" or daily wage earners who have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) health crisis.

Sotto also urged for improvements in the distribution of government aid amid growing “survival concerns” among families extremely affected by the ongoing lockdown.

He said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DWSD), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), and local government units (LGUs) can coordinate and pool together their databases to come up with a proper list of beneficiaries.

“Government assistance can cover a wider base if it is provided with proper information on the total number of households and families in the country, sources of income, vulnerabilities and other pertinent data,” Sotto said.

He likewise urged government leaders to coordinate with private donors to prevent possible duplication in the distribution of cash and food packs being given by the government and the private sector.

He cited reports that packages of food essentials have been distributed by private investors and business executives to low-income families and members of the vulnerable sectors, who are also the recipient of government cash subsidies.

“All assistance is given to the less advantaged, leaving the middle-income and formal sector workers looking at empty boxes,” he said.

"All workers and families who are experiencing difficulties because of the lockdown and the Covid-19 pandemic are equally entitled to public and private assistance. There should be no social discrimination at this time because everyone, each Filipino, needs help," Sotto said. (PNA)

***

References:

* Philippine News Agency. "Sotto backs inclusion of middle class in gov’t aid program." Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1099256 (accessed April 09, 2020 at 12:01AM UTC+14).

* Philippine News Agency. "Sotto backs inclusion of middle class in gov’t aid program." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1099256 (archived).

[probablyinatree]

Flint Water Crisis: 2014 - Today

Guys, have we forgotten about this?

I’m sure you remember a couple years ago, when a little town in Michigan was plastered over the news. Their tap water was yellow, and filled with a life-changing heavy metal: lead.

This came about when officials in Flint, Michigan decided to switch their water supplier from the Detroit Water and Sewage Department, or DWSD, (with water from Lake Huron and the Detroit River) to simply drawing from the Flint River. Officials then neglected to treat the water with chemicals so it would not corrode pipes in transit to people’s homes.

It is important to note that these supply pipes were installed over a century prior. Like many things at the time, they were made of - you guessed it - lead. That lead could leach into the water as it passed through Flint’s pipes. However, blame for this disaster cannot be placed upon those who chose to install these pipes, for lead was not known to be such an issue at the time.

Over the first few months, multiple water boiling advisories were posted, as various pathogens were found in the water (notably, boiling water has no effect on heavy metals). A little under a year after the switch, the DWSD offered to reinstate a contract with Flint. Officials refused, afraid of the higher costs.

Around this same time, residents brought bottles of their yellow tap water to the notice of officials, and people noted that children were suffering from the effects of an “unknown illness” (you know, lead poisoning). These people were ignored.

A couple months later, a study found extremely high concentrations of lead within Flint homes. Now, having over 25 times the allowable amount of lead in your water might seem like a pretty obvious and important issue. Still, there was inaction.

A vote in March, 2015 agreed to switch the town’s supplier back to the DWSD, but this was overruled by the emergency manager: once again, in fear of rising costs.

Only in September of this year did officials begin to agree with reports of the dangerous element, and even this was skeptical. At the beginning of October, the state began distributing water bottles and filters to families. Two weeks later, the town finally agreed to switch back to water from the DWSD.

Through the last couple months of 2015 and the first few of 2016, various lawsuits were filed against officials within the town and state. Even the Environmental Protection Agency was charged.

Fast forward to January 2017, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality claimed that levels of lead in Flint tap water had returned to the acceptable threshold. Most residents remained skeptic of this.

In April of this year (2018), Flint announced that it would close water bottle distribution centers throughout the town. Yet, residents are still receiving their water from ancient, lead pipes. While officials claim the water is safe, after years of struggle, it is likely residents won’t be able to trust this assessment for a long time.

Source: x x x x x