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Topic: flint & Hamtramck-tale of 2 cities with lead

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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

I am glad that I spoke to County Commissioner Bryant Nolden on Sunday. He was aware of the Hamtramck issues and he and other commissioners are working with Mayor Weaver to request $45 million to replace Flint's aging infrastructure . It is a pleasure to see the two agencies working closely together.
Post Wed Jan 06, 2016 12:36 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

A Tale of two aging industrial cities in Michigan.

On March 13, 2001, Detroit News reporter Christopher M. Singer wrote about the excessive amounts of lead in the water of Hamtramck (up to 77 parts per billion ).

Like Flints recent history, Hamtramck in 2001 had a state appointed emergency manager , a GOP Governor and a MDEQ that dropped the ball on alerting the elected officials and residents on the high lead levels in their water.

State testing for lead in the water began in 1992. Hamtramck was one of 33 southeast Michigan communities serviced by the Detroit Water and Sewer Department that had excessive levels of lead in their water. By 1994, Detroit was adding food grade phosphoric acid to their water to serve as a corrosive retartdant. While this measure served to correct the problem in most communities, Hamtramck had water pipe lines that were so deteriorated, that Hamtramck remained the only community with high lead levels.
Post Wed Jan 06, 2016 12:47 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

It was not until 1997 that Hamtramck was ordered by the MDEQ to replace their 1" lead pipes from the city service lines to the homes they serviced with 1" copper pipe lines. It did not happen.

Then in the fall of 2000 when the lead levels became extremely high the MDEQ suddenly demanded a consent order with the Engler appointed Hamtramck EM Schimmel. Instead the MDEQ allowed the EM to have an agreement that would allow Hamtramck to have an additional four years before they had to replace the aging lead pipe lines.

Even worse, in 2001 the Director of the Hamtramck Water department admitted that neither the mayor nor the City Council had been apprised o the situation with the lead pipes and the lead water levels.
Post Wed Jan 06, 2016 12:55 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

On December 17, 2015, Detroit Free press writer Nancy Kaffer, wrote a provocative analysis of the Flint water lead issues and asked when did the state know Flint children were being lead poisoned. Her requests to state officials resulted in replies that the MDEQ did not know of the increase of the lead levels in the water until a Flint pediatrician released her analytical report in September of 2015. However, kaffer noted the state's own data showed the same trend of a rise in the number of children with lead in their blood.

kaffer related how the state health department compounded the issue when they "stonewalled" Virginia Tech researcher Marc Edwards in his quest to obtain public records on Flint's water crisis. Her conclusion revolved around the state's failure to stop Flint officials from embarking on a "reckless water treatment plan. The MDEQ failed to require the addition of chemicals to Flint River water that would have prevented lead in Flint's aging pipelines from leaching into the water supply.
Post Wed Jan 06, 2016 1:07 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

A six month series of tests completed in January 2015 showed that lead in the water was rising, but state officials did not act. The state failed to act when the Environmental Protection Agency faulted their work.

So who in the Flint administration knew about the possible lead poisoning? In 2001-2002, the Anderson Report addressed the possibility of using the Flint River as a source of water for either the city or the county. This consulting agency brought up the concern of the corrosiveness of the Flint River water and urged more tests. What were Flint officials thinking when the GM truck & engine plant switched water sources because of rusting engine parts. How about complaints in the College Cultural area that older boiler systems were having corrosive water problems?
Post Wed Jan 06, 2016 1:17 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Virginia Tech's researchers were stalled by a "litigation hold", which experienced municipal litigators said was unheard of. When the Michigan Attorney General's office refused to support the "litigation hold", the state health Department switched to researching for "attorney client privilege".

Free Press attorney Herschel Fink rejected both ploys and noted "public documents don't become private by simple virtue of being associated with a lawsuit."

Flint used these same tactics when it was revealed in a Flint Council investigation that Flint City Attorney Peter Bade used these same litigation tactics to prevent the council from knowing about the misuse and subsequent loss of the Flint Department of Energy grant.

In an attempt to obfuscate the MDEQ failures. MDEQ spokesman Brad Wurfel told the Journal the issue wasn't the water source or the water plant, but instead was the high number of older homes with lead pipes and lead service connections.
Post Wed Jan 06, 2016 1:28 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Hamtramck was to replace their residential service connections at a cost of $6 million or more. Under Flint EM Kurtz, the council was bypassed and the ordinance was changed to make Flint residents responsible for replacing water service lines. When these costs are added to the cost of possibly replacing lead pipes in the home, this could be an impossible burden for residents in the 48503 and 48504 areas where the lead levels are said to be the highest.

Is this the state' way of shafting the seniors and the poor again?
Post Wed Jan 06, 2016 1:34 pm 
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