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Flint and Michigan settle water dispute for $87 million
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TheOfficeMut
Unconfirmed Member
By January 2020?! I don't expect this to be a quick fix but my God.
You give them a date three years away and they're going to aim to start doing the work only around that time. Then they'll hit you with more extensions. This isn't settling shit.
You give them a date three years away and they're going to aim to start doing the work only around that time. Then they'll hit you with more extensions. This isn't settling shit.
PartTimeWarrior
Banned
It's insane that it took this long to say "hey lets give these people clean water"
Unbelievable that this began in early 2014.
Icebergslim
Banned
There's no way it only cost 87 million.
Azzurri
Member
Yea, double that cost and the amount of time it takes to finish this.
Seth Enosh
Member
The attorney general of Michigan has issued criminal indictments months ago. You can use google to answer this question if you want more details.
Angelus Errare
Banned
Not satisfied until there are politicians in prison for this
SliceSabre
Banned
That seems like not nearly enough money to fix this mess.
A damn shame either way.
A damn shame either way.
obijkenobi
Member
In the blurb, it saya that the feds under Obama also promised 100 million.
Honestly, I want Snyder and all of his friends in jail as well.
Complistic
Member
It's a pretty small part of Flint so the 87 million seems about right.
Bruce Springsteen
Member
87 million seems very low
Frozenprince
Banned
Children can't bathe because of fear of fucking lead poisoning. Children.
And yet this will take upwards or eight years to maybe, maybe get solved maybe.
Wonder why? Oh right, it's cause most of them are brown children, and inherently worth less points.
And yet this will take upwards or eight years to maybe, maybe get solved maybe.
Wonder why? Oh right, it's cause most of them are brown children, and inherently worth less points.
shira
Member
Sad but true. Not even sure where the extra funding will come from when it goes overbudget
SolarPowered
Member
America can't fix some pipes while China and Saudi Arabia build fucking islands.
I can't
I can't
LoserMakesGood
Member
Wasn't it only going to cost a million to fix the pipes in the first place? But the mayor or who ever didn't want to do it to save money, and now the lead has fucked all the pipes.
Oops
Oops
LiveFromKyoto
Member
I don't even understand the resistance to just dealing with this ASAP. It's insane.
Rebel Leader
THE POWER OF BUTTERSCOTCH BOTTOMS
America is the country where a not insignificant number of people think "that's smart" is the appropriate response to a billionaire apparently paying no taxes (Regardless of how true it is/was), and then votes for them to be president.
That's then followed up by that same person increasing defense spending by billions and billions of dollars.
Of course they can't fix lead filled pipes.
Dreams-Visions
Member
Unacceptable. Why did the city accept this settlement?
Earthbound64
Banned
"Settle water dispute for $87 million"?
Sounds like they're just being legally forced to make the updates they should have made before, with no further penalty.
Sounds like they're just being legally forced to make the updates they should have made before, with no further penalty.
Complistic
Member
Right so a little quick math, that's 187,000,000 / 20,000 homes comes out to $9,350 per home. Seems like that should be enough, though we're not factoring in commercial buildings.
Sucks it's gonna take 3 years though.
Earthbound64
Banned
So, $3117 increase in taxes for the next 3 years?
(Not being serious, hopefully they don't get any ideas)
I H8 Memes
Member
Even with the additional 100 million from the Govt I dont see it as being enough. You are going to dig up and replace all the pipes for 20,000 people? In a city? There is no way thats enough money.
Locally water pipe maintenance was deferred for years to keep taxes low. Even before Flint happened, the local government created a plan to increase water bills 10%/year for 10 years to get caught up.
We have really hard water here so the thick line of lime in all the pipes saved us.
Now thanks to Flint nobody will object to any cost related to water. However, they now want cuts from other places to offset the water increases. I want to scream at these people "how do you think they fell behind in the first place?"
Last thing we need is our parks to become shit next or something.
We have really hard water here so the thick line of lime in all the pipes saved us.
Now thanks to Flint nobody will object to any cost related to water. However, they now want cuts from other places to offset the water increases. I want to scream at these people "how do you think they fell behind in the first place?"
Last thing we need is our parks to become shit next or something.
Vital Tundra
Member
The idea of a "settlement" is baffling. Isn't this something you just do for your people???
Manmademan
Member
Funding large projects like this isn't just something you "do." The money has to come from somewhere. Either another project will be underfunded or taxes will go up to compensate.
Seth Enosh
Member
The state environmental department misread regulations and advised to wait before adding chemicals to the water to protect the lead pipes. They advised monitoring lead levels instead to see if they were necessary. Without the chemicals, the lead leached into the water and the actual testing for lead in the water and blood were both botched and the state DEP had to be told by others that the water had become undrinkable.
Although the decision to switch to Flint river water was for cost saving the decision to not use chemicals on the water wasn't really made for a basis of cost but rather out of negligence, ignorance, or possibly malice if the officials at the state environmental department just wanted to poison some kids...
Source: http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/05/department_of_environmental_qu.html
The State of Michigan, with GOP majorities in the legislature and GOP governor, forced Flint into emergency management in 2011. Despite the people of Michigan repealing the emergency manager law in 2012, the legislature reinstated it a month or so later. During this time Flint was due to move from the Detroit Water System to the Karegnondi Water Authority. While this was happening, DWS raised its rates, as it does periodically. The emergency manager used this as justification to get Flint out of the DWS, but the KWA was not ready. So the emergency manager had the city of Flint reopen its defunct water treatment plant and draw water from the Flint river until the KWA was completed. Despite protestations from operators of the plant about the plant not being ready and about potential dangers, who ironically are now charged with crimes by the Attorney General of Michigan, the emergency managers and possibly people from the state government and governors office pushed for the plant to open. And so it did. GM first noticed problems with the water corroding their cars. And the state government began shipping water to its employees in Flint. Due to a lack of study and an unwillingness to check data, the plant had opened despite water from the Flint River being completely unable to be cleaned to a point of safety. People in Flint complained to the county and state government. The governor's office squashed this. Eventually someone from the EPA was notified and they began to investigate. A higher up at the EPA stymied their investigation. Eventually citizens in Flint asked an outside researcher to help. That researcher teamed up with the EPA employee and blew the whistle on the amount of lead in the water. The pipes themselves had been corroded by water from the Flint River. When the city switched back to DWS until the KWA is completed, it did not matter as the pipes themselves were leeching lead into the water. Once the whistle was officially blown, in 9-2015, it took another four months for Governor Snyder to declare a state of emergency.
And this is leaving out the state's (non) response to the Legionnaire's disease outbreak that led to at least 12 deaths.
My previous post on the subject.
Brief timeline:
April 2014 - water from the Flint River flows into the pipes and people immediately begin to complain
October 2014 - GM discontinues its use of Flint water
January 2015 - Michigan begins shipping water to its employees in Flint
February 2015 - governor's office "becomes aware" of the problems with Flint's water
March 2015 - Flint's government tries to reconnect to Detroit's system, but the emergency manager overrules them
June 2015 - The EPA and researchers from VA Tech publish their results about high lead levels in homes in Flint
September 2015 - VA Tech researchers report that 40% of home in Flint have high lead levels
October 2015 - Governor officially acknowledges there is a problem
January 2016 - Governor declares a state of emergency
Honestly, three years to completely replace an entire city's piping infrastructure like this seems like a stretch with that amount of money. This is going to be a HUGE project.
I don't begrudge the people who have to sort this shit out - I severely doubt the people who caused this mess are involved in the cleanup. And I suppose we wouldn't want them to, either...
I don't begrudge the people who have to sort this shit out - I severely doubt the people who caused this mess are involved in the cleanup. And I suppose we wouldn't want them to, either...
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
And isn't Trump doing the exact opposite now? Like it's he making water less clean with his new executive order?
GuitarAtomik
Member
Does that seem to be a little low to anyone else?
Netherscourge
Banned
$87M just to fix the water system.
Ok.
Now, what about all the people with brain damage from lead poisoning?
Ok.
Now, what about all the people with brain damage from lead poisoning?
NintendoRev
Member
Oh good. By 2020? Not with captain shitbag at the helm of the country and our mayor doing everything she can to Fuck up.
"Well the inner cities, you know... they don't deserve water! They don't appreciate it like we do! Sad!"
"Well the inner cities, you know... they don't deserve water! They don't appreciate it like we do! Sad!"
Hold my milk...
If Baltimore is any indication, it should be at least 500000 per child in an eventual settlement. Of course, how much of that will end up in the hands of firms like JG Wentworth who exploit poor communities...well, that will be up to how well Michigan protects its residents.
Which leaves me with little hope.
Probably not, I'd double that at least.
Here's some detail about the plant being unprepared for treating the water with the standard anti-corrosion additives: http://www.freep.com/story/opinion/2016/03/30/flint-water-crisis/82421546/
Bonen no Max'd
Banned
The wonders of running government like a business. An incredibly racist business.
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