Posted on 09/04/2022 7:56:01 PM PDT by texas booster
According to multiple sources on-site and close to the State of Mississippi’s intervention in Jackson’s O. B. Curtis Water Treatment Plant that were not authorized to speak publicly, state Health and Emergency Management officials were met with a mix of “grateful faces” from a severely overworked and critically understaffed facility workforce operating in “fundamentally unsafe conditions” that needed to be immediately addressed.
Critically unsafe municipal staffing levels were discovered when state officials arrived on-site. Particularly in the overnight hours, staff had dwindled to one operator on-site tasked with handling both the membrane and conventional filtering systems leaving a single point of failure from a staffing perspective. They also discovered that there were not qualified electricians on-site, leaving unqualified staff to handle these critical tasks.
The facility had all but ceased standard preventative maintenance required for compliant water treatment facilities as the limited number of employees were essentially moving from “crisis to crisis” hourly. This led to basic safety protocols and precautions being ignored due to lack of staffing.
Intake water sensors to monitor pH levels were not functioning and had not been functioning for an unknown period of time. Those pH sensors are critical to operators understanding the composition of water intake and how to plan to treat water chemically for safe output.
Additionally, sources on the ground reported that the pH levels were so high in the water that the sensor failures required the improvised lowering of pressure on Monday in order to attempt to balance treated water output. The water output was substantially out of balance leading to the water leaving the facility being deeply unsafe.
The low water pressure output from the plant over the last month, when pumps were severely damaged and taken offline, led to a diminution of water pressure from above ground tanks further exasperating the crisis.
In the days since state intervention, a new emergency rental pump has been installed and conditions have started to improve.
The lead up to a near system collapse
Last Thursday, as unseasonal rains poured across central Mississippi and the Pearl River continued to rise, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves convened officials from the Department of Health (MSDH) and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) to assess the water situation in the City of Jackson. The Governor, Health Department and Emergency Management Officials knew full well that if the municipality’s water treatment facility was failing to pump water, residents could be facing an imminent full blown health crisis.
Upon discussion, state officials, concerned with both output and chemical composition at the water treatment facility, decided to begin drafting emergency orders on Friday while also reaching out to area contractors familiar with such facilities in an effort to have workers on standby should it be needed.
MSDH had the option of using their authority from MS Code Section 41-26-11 as their justification to ensure proper life, health and safety of Jackson citizens. The law states, “The director shall develop an adequate plan for the provision of safe drinking water under emergency circumstances. If, in the judgment of the director, emergency circumstances exist in the state for safe drinking water, the director may take any actions deemed necessary to provide safe drinking water where it otherwise would not be available.”
As state health officials began the process of reaching out to contractors that might provide assistance, there were substantial concerns from a lack of payment from the City of Jackson, further complicating efforts.
By the weekend, after preparing the necessary resources to take control over many operations at O.B. Curtis, Health and MEMA officials reached out to Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba at the Governor’s direction to inform the city that the State was in a position to declare a state of emergency because the situation at the water treatment facility was untenable. The state would pay half of the cost and the city would pay the other half, presumably through previously allocated American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
However, when state officials and workers arrived, what they found was even more concerning than they had initially imagined. This could have been easily prevented
Sources close to the situation that were on-site said staffing levels at the O.B. Curtis Water Treatment Facility operated by the City of Jackson have long been an issue and were the primary issue in the diminished operation of the facility.
A WLBT report documented this in mid-August with emails from one employee stating, “I worked 24 to 36 hours at OBC every Saturday and Sunday 7a-7p and Wednesday or Thursday night 7p-7a over six (6) months last year because of the Class A operator shortage.”
On Thursday, Jackson City Council President Ashby Foote and Councilmen Aaron Banks and Vernon Hartley toured the O.B. Curtis facility along with Jordan Hillman, Deputy Public Works Administrator, and Les Herrington, Environmental Health Officer with the Mississippi Department of Health, to get a firsthand tour of the response. The tour was led by Jim Craig with the Mississippi Department of Health, who has since been named Incident Commander of the state response.
According to City Councilman Foote, “Redundancy in the facility had been allowed to atrophy to the point where the operations of the plant simply were not sustainable.”
There are no definitive timetables on the return to normal operations for the plant, but “substantial progress” has been made, according to officials following the installation of a new supplementary pump.
Both Governor Reeves and Jackson Mayor Lumumba appeared together this afternoon for the first time since the crisis began.
Immediate staffing of resources to try to get the plant on a stable footing to provide serviceable water to the citizens of Jackson has been a priority.
Biden and the national news all blame whitey and the governor of Mississippi, who is a Republican.
The governor sidestepped the blame game and worked to get the water system working.
I found this article updating the situation, and it seems to be both fair and balanced. If anything, it goes too easy on the mayor and other Jacksonian elected officials.
The Democrat Party isn’t just corrupt. It is also incompetent.
Wonder if these Jackson water treatment positions were filled with patronage employees instead of merit based employees? It is the Democrat Party way.
“The Governor, Health Department and Emergency Management Officials knew full well that if the municipality’s water treatment facility was failing to pump water, residents could be facing an imminent full blown health crisis.”
How about the major of the city?
I could be wrong, but I think I remember stories a couple of years ago about how the Jackson, Mississippi water system was in terrible shape due to lack of maintenance. The black city government preferred to spend tax money on other things.
Following up on an earlier thread with the latest that I could find (not from CNN, AP or Reuters). Like to have attributed sources.
Jackson MS water supply threads.
Pinging folks from the previous threads.
I would think the operation of a city owned water system would be the responsibility of the city administrators and city elected officals.
Would the media blame the governor if he or she was a Demorat?
Grandson of Communist dictator Patrice Émery Lumumba?
Thanks!
There needs to be a state-of-emergency declaration for most democrat run governments.
Bring in outside, competent people to get these cities and states running properly.
Ah...yes, that would be a problem, wouldn't it? Somebody in the past pocketed the money? Now who would do a thing like that?
Mayor Lumumba. Any relation to Patrice Lumumba?
Here is a report from a Jackson MS TV station regarding the staffing problem way back in May.
Nothing was done.
Indeed, the request was denied by the Public Works director.
...
The documents paint a stark picture, showing that the Curtis plant, which provides water to some 43,000 connections, has just two Class A-certified water operators on the payroll, one-sixth the number it needs to be fully staffed.
A November 2021 email from then-City Engineer Charles Williams said that the shortages were so bad that if one more water operator left, the city would have to shut down one of its plants.
Meanwhile, timesheets for June 2022 show that water operators at the J.H. Fewell plant logged hundreds of hours of overtime to ensure a Class A operator was on duty at all times, a requirement under federal law.
Jackson must have a Class A-certified worker on duty at each plant 24 hours a day, seven days a week, per the Safe Drinking Water Act. These workers are mandated for all “systems with surface water treatment, lime softening or coagulation and filtration for the removal of constituents other than iron or manganese,” according to operator regulations provided by the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office.
Emails reveal that for about six months in 2021, (Deputy Director for Water Operations Mary D.) Carter herself also put in massive amounts of overtime to ensure plant coverage.
“I worked 24 to 36 hours at OBC every Saturday and Sunday,” she wrote. “I don’t want us in the news for a notice of violation from USEPA for not having a Class A operator on site at all times.”
Carter said employees are worn out by putting in the extra hours but are “dedicated to their jobs.”
“They want to make sure that they’re putting out good water for our citizens, you know because they live here,” she said. “These are their relatives, so, they want to do all they can to make sure that the city delivers clean drinking water.”
Carter’s correspondence also reveals another, more troubling fact. Carter asked Public Works Director Marlin King multiple times for a “water/sewer loader,” a document that includes information on all positions currently filled, open and frozen.
She said she needed the information so she could “devise a plan” to bring on a part-time water operator to provide relief.
More than a month after asking for that document, though, she had still not received it, and as of August 18, no worker has been hired.
“Never has a PW director forbade a deputy director from receiving an employee loader,” she told King. “It appears you don’t understand the urgency of this situation.” ...
More at the link.
He’s from a political family well versed in ‘Africa Pretend’!
Though it his father’s name - Chokwe Lumumba. Who was born in Detroit, Michigan as Edwin Finley Taliaferro. (Italian?)
Somehow all of that will make the water run clean & fix the sewage system.
Copying Reily to his quote.
No mention of the EPA’S role.
Interesting...
In Michigan Democrats blamed the Flint Water crisis on governor Rick Snyder. Fast forward three years with the same thing happening under Gretchen Whitmer, only this time in Benton Harbor; crickets.
The EPA showed up for a serious looking photo op and then left.
Made a few quotes for CNN and AP. Blamed everyone but the mayor and Biden, and the head of the EPA.
The governor of MS appointed the director of the MS Dept of Health and now things are moving.
Pumps installed, electrical repaired and loaner staff in place.
But it is still, somehow, all Trump’s fault and the Republican governor’s fault.
(Notice how it barely registers on the national news today?)
“Jackson Mayor Lumumba is a self-described progressive and socialist. Lumumba has also referred to himself as a political revolutionary.”
it’s definitely revolutionary in the U.S. to fail to deliver potable water to an entire city due to total indifference ...
The city of Jackson says water pressure should be restored to all residents, and most are now experiencing normal pressure.
According to a press release, the total output at the O.B. Curtis Water Plant has increased to 90 psi, exceeding the city’s goal of 87 psi or better.
“The outlook continues to be positive. However, additional challenges as repairs and adjustments are made do leave potential for fluctuations in progress,” the press release said.
The city says all tanks saw increased storage levels overnight, and multiple tanks are approaching full. According to the city, no tanks are at low levels.
The city is continuing work on the membrane and conventional systems with city staff and mutual aid teams from Georgia and Florida rural water associations.
The focus for today is repair and maintenance work at the O.B. Curtis Water Plant to increase water quantity and water quality, the press release says. ...
Maybe the Jackson mayor can send a thank you to the rednecks repairmen from GA and FL ...
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