How the WaPo whitewashed the Flint water disaster [What is this “EPA” of which you speak?]

Hotair ^ | 01/21/2016 | Jazz Shaw

[SeekAndFind]

I’m one of those masochists who signs up for daily email alerts from several news services just to keep tabs on the stories I might miss on cable news. I get a couple of them from the Washington Post, one of which is the “Five Minute Fix.” These breaking news alerts provide not only a quick glance at the news of the day, but frequently a good look at how reporters at one of the nation’s largest newspapers view the news and choose to project it to the public. Last night’s Fix was a great example of the latter as it dealt with the ongoing debacle in Flint, Michigan, and reporter Amber Phillips provided the nation with a story containing huge gaps in the facts while seemingly pushing a political agenda. After a thumbnail description of the toxic drinking water situation, here’s the intro she chose.

It’s unclear how Gov. Rick Snyder (R), in his second of two terms, will come out of this — a few are calling for his resignation, including Bernie Sanders — but the fact that we’re talking about it here in Washington conveys the magnitude of the problem.

Here’s what you need to know:

Beyond the fact that there is only one government official mentioned at the top (the only Republican available on the scene by coincidence, I’m sure) take particular note of the last six words emphasized above. We’ll circle back to that in a moment.

First, let’s take a look at the short version of the Flint water story being told here. It begins with the 2014 decision to switch water supplies to the Flint River, and then moves into 2015. (Emphasis added)

Soon after, residents began complaining of murky, smelly water that gave their children rashes. In September, researchers found lead in the water and abnormal spikes of lead in Flint children’s blood levels, a sign of potentially irreversible lead poisoning. Turns out the Flint River had eroded the city’s lead pipes and fixtures, poisoning dozens, and some suspect that the water is linked to an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease that has killed 10.

It wasn’t until then, nearly 18 months later, that the governor acknowledged the problem and promised to do something about it.

After that, the “Fix” immediately reverts to the political fallout and, once again, the only name mentioned is that of Rick Snyder. But those who have been following the actual story know that not only is there a lot of information missing there, key parts of it are absolutely dishonest. The contamination was not “found” in September. That’s just when the public (and presumably the Governor’s office) found out about it. As early as January of last year there were red flags being raised (though the lead levels were still a question mark at that point) but it was the city (not the state government) which insisted there was nothing to see here.

JANUARY 2015: Flint seeks an evaluation of its efforts to improve the water amid concerns that it contains potentially harmful levels of a disinfection byproduct. Detroit offers to reconnect Flint to its water system. Flint insists its water is safe.

JAN. 28: Flint residents snap up 200 cases of bottled water in 30 minutes in a giveaway program. More giveaways will follow in ensuing months.

And then, as Ms. Phillips would know if she read her own paper, by the end of February the EPA had already tested the water and knew it was toxic, but they sat on the information as they argued with the state environmental office and even suppressed the release of a memo written by the EPA saying the water was toxic.

EPA official Susan Hedman did not publicize the EPA's concern over Flint's water quality or the water's dangerous health concerns. The federal agency instead quietly fought with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality for at least six months about what should be done.

EPA water expert, Miguel Del Toral, identified potential contamination problems with Flint's drinking water last February and confirmed the suspicions in April. He authored an internal memo about the problem in June, according to documents obtained by Virginia Tech.

Meanwhile, Hedman became aware of the contamination issue in April. She sought legal advice, but didn't receive the guidance until November 2014. The American Civil Liberties Union accused Hedman in October of attempting to keep Miguel Del Toral's memo in-house, downplaying its significance.

And yet, to read your Five Minute Fix from the Washington Post, you would think that nobody except the Governor ever knew anything and he simply dragged his feet, whistling past the Flint graveyard until he was prodded into action. You would have no idea that the EPA had the information in their hands and the head of the agency is already being questioned about it, though she insists they did their jobs wonderfully.

Remember up at the top when I pointed out the intro to the Fix? Here’s what you need to know. No doubt that’s what plenty of folks in the media would like you to know. It’s an election year, and damage control for the Democrats is in full swing in the media. They’re going to do their level best to flush any questions about the EPA or the local administration down the memory hole and blame the entire thing on Rick Snyder. Sadly, unless more people point it out, it’s going to work, too.

[Buckeye McFrog]

This is all part of a deliberate Union/Democrat strategy to undermine Republicans in Rust Belt states and contain the Scott Walker revolution to Wisconsin.

[BenLurkin]

Isn’t water a municipal problem? Why is WaPo bringing the state and federal governments into the discussion?

[Rusty0604]

This is sad for the people in Flint, but if the Governor just apologizes and does not stick up for himself then he is just another republican weasel.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

Liberal Press Logic:

Hurricane Katrina

Democratic mayor + Democratic governor + Republican president = blame the Republican president.

Flint, Michigan

Democratic mayor + Republican governor + Democratic president / EPA = blame the Republican governor.

[bert]

what was the lead content in parts per billion?

[rbg81]

Good point. GWB got blamed for the Katrina floods, even though the levies had been a local issue for like forever.

[rbg81]

Good point. GWB got blamed for the Katrina floods, even though the levies had been a local issue for like forever.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

:: Turns out the Flint River had eroded the city’s lead pipes and fixtures ::

Wasn’t it FEDERAL LAW to exchange ^any and all^ lead-alloy pipe and lead-soldered public water distribution systems?

Did Flint not comply?
IIRC, the time frame for compliance was circa 1978.

[mikelets456]

Just like Katrina was Bush’s fault yet Hurricane Sandy was NOT Obama’s fault. Our lying media at it again-—this has everything to do with ousting a Republican legislature in a radical left wing, Moslem state. Political pander and nonsense at the cost of innocent lives.

[cradle of freedom]

Black majority city, Democrat run, 29% of homes headed by a female etc. etc.

[Faith Presses On]

Now if Hillary Clinton was Michigan governor...

[lacrew]

I think I can simplify your equations:

Anything Bad = Blame Republican

IOW, never let a crisis go to waste.

[TMA62]

There is also the other issue of the EPA’s involvement in the mine spill in the river in Colorado. That, along with the EPA’s involvement in the Flint situation, paints many many questions on the agencie abilities.

If there are questions and concerns about the safety of the water, I do not have any problem with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality or the EPA to issue stop-use order.

It happened here in Indiana. Several years ago, INDOT bridge inspectors recorded cracks in structural members of the Sherman Minton Bridge (I-64) crossing the Ohio River near Louisville. These cracks were on fracture-critial bridge members (there was no redundancy should those members failed). Given the sitution, the INDOT Commission promptly briefed the Governor (Mitch Daniels) and told him the bridge had to be closed NOW. Daniels picked up the phone, called his Kentucky counterpart, and briefed him on the sitution. Both agreed to close the bridge immediately. And that is what happened. The bridge was closed for repairs within a day.

The timeliness of the involvement of the EPA and the Michigan DEQ is very questionable: Acency fail. It is hard for decision makers like an emergency manager or governor or anyone else to make decisions if they are not being breifed in a timely manner.

[lacrew]

Apparently, they still have lead solder in the homes, and lead alloy pipe as service lines...and the service lines are apparently the homeowner’s to worry about.

BUT...water system operators have great responsibility and authority to ‘protect’ their system. And since an empty house with dead end water in a lead service line could put lead into the larger system, they should have replaced the service lines too.

[Slyfox]

Its unclear how Gov. Rick Snyder (R), in his second of two terms, will come out of this - a few are calling for his resignation, including Bernie Sanders

The democrats took over in Flint in the late 60s. Almost all of them have either spent time in prison or should be in prison. They get in there and enrich themselves and their friends with no-work, high-paying jobs.

They then don't pay attention to their jobs, they make decisions which down the road create havoc and then when the media gets wind of problems they look for the closest Republican to blame it all on.

Flint used to be a really nice little town, the original home of General Motors and Buick, great schools, nice old homes on tree-lined streets. And it has died because of democrats gaming the system for decades.

And now they are pointing to the Republican governor as the culprit.

My parents who live part of the year in the home we all grew up in - drank that water. They probably have irreversible brian damage and I am pissed.

But to blame the governor is not right. They need to go back to every mayor and board member who had anything to do with water decisions and string them up legally.

[JeanLM]

The Fed EPA wrote a new rule just for this type of event back in 2000. It gave the water suppliers time to adjust based on the percentage of samples above 5 ppb. The cities and water companies objected to the flat 5 ppb limit. The allowable percentage is complicated and also time limited. Flint was 40% above and the limit I think is 10%. The source of the lead is not the river water but the leaching by the river water of the old water pipes in Flint, like a lot of other cities.

It has become a political issue because the city of Flint is like Detroit after years of Democratic mismanagement. So they go after the Republican Governor who had little to do with the problem until now.

[Gunpowder green]

It is a municipal problem, usually, but Flint is bankrupt, and the governor appointed an “emergency manager” to govern the city by decree until the fiscal problems are solved. While it’s true that the emergency manager and the state had a hand in this, it’s more complicated.

There is no solution for Flint, it’s a city in social collapse. The tax base has disappeared and the infrastructure is falling apart. Part of the blame may go to the state, but some goes to the EPA for covering this up (what do we pay them for? The EPA should be disbanded if they can’t handle issues like this).

Most of the blame goes to the people of Flint. Many homes still have lead pipes, many don’t pay their bills, and they have been mis-managed as a city for decades.

Did I mention that Flint is one of the most Democrat-controlled cities in the US?

[Gunpowder green]

Flint is the future of the US, if Democrats keep getting elected. They are trying to turn California into Flint. They’ll turn every place into Flint, given the chance.

[bIlluminati]

You can reverse lead poisoning with EDTA. It’s important to act quickly. If the lead poisoning is serious, it should be done with intravenous EDTA. Otherwise, taking EDTA orally is good enough. This has been known since at least 1960. But EDTA is off-patent.