Before Devin Scillian interviewed DPS Emergency Manager Darnell Early, on both Flint Water and the state of DPS this morning on his Channel 4 program, Flashpoint, Detroit Free Press Writer Matthew Dolan wrote today on what is next for Flint. [1]
Dolan quoted Flint Mayor Karen Weaver from her interview with National Public Radio earlier this month as saying the ordeal over water has been “[a] terrible thing, no community should ever have to go through what Flint has gone through, but I’m also looking at the possibility of what can come out of this.”
I wish to answer Dolan’s headline question, and propose a Plan for Mayor Weaver to consider. The title of this blog response is “This Should be Next for Flint,” because even though the expansive response I propose below is what the residents of Flint deserve—and more—I doubt very seriously that in spite of Governor Rick Snyder being “devoted” to Flint, that the political will exists in Michigan to make such a comprehensive plan a reality.
The plan has 18 steps, it is not exclusive, and needs to start now. Just in case the State or the incompetent officials running it are confused about the meaning of “now,” it means after you’re done reading—not after the blue ribbon commission makes a recommendation 2 years from now. It means today.
Here is what should happen now.
- Relocate children and their families permanently to lead-safe housing if necessary to reduce their lead exposure in a timely manner.
If there was a way to “fix” this in short order, it is to physically relocate children away from Flint. Don’t make it mandatory, but make it easy if a family chooses this option.
- Complete a thorough, initial, physical on-site assessment and evaluation of each home connected to the municipal water system where each child under the age of 18 principally resides, and inspect other sites where the child spends significant amounts of time and of systems to which the child is routinely exposed.
This individualized evaluation must include testing of (i) house dust; (ii) paint that is not intact or is subject to friction; (iii) exposed soil, especially in play areas; (iv) water piping, joints, and fixtures inside the structure, and (v) drain fields and other areas as appropriate, all of which should be completed with a focus on control of current lead hazards that may continue or exacerbate the current crisis.
- Supply temporary vulnerable adult occupant relocation or other measures to protect from exposure to lead produced by lead hazard control activities. Replace or enclose building components when elimination of intact leaded paint is performed. Include clearance testing following lead hazard reduction work to ensure that lead levels are safe prior to a structure being re-occupied.
In addition to children, one group that is largely overlooked are the elderly and vulnerable adults who do not have the same voice as the younger parents or individuals who shout at community meetings. These people will simply suffer quietly, and many will meet horrible ends that will, inevitably, go ignored.
- Prepare a complete individualized history of exposure and testing data for each child under the age of 18, and document the evaluation and data in a format and medium easily accessible to the child’s parent/guardian in perpetuity.
This data needs to be appropriately documented and widely available for future use in debates, policy positions, and as evidence available to defense attorneys in future criminal trials of people exposed to high levels of lead.
- Physically dig up water transmission lines from pumping structures to neighborhood distribution lines, inspecting, applying prophylactic stabilizing and antibacterial measures, and replacing pipes as necessary;
There are multiple technologies that can be used to modernize and make safe the municipal drinking water system in Flint. [2] [3] [4] [5]
- Physically dig up water transmission lines from the city water main under the street conveying water to a structure, inspecting, applying prophylactic stabilizing and antibacterial measures, and replacing pipes as necessary;
These lead and cast-iron systems should be replaced immediately with steel, steel-lined, or water grade polymer systems.
- Physically replace water piping and joints inside structures using or which utilize lead-based joinery, including appliances and fixtures where lead may be pooling, or waiting dormant for an event which would disturb it and put it back into the tap water, such as water heaters, pre-existing filtration systems, and city water meters.
Local plumbing contractors can do the footwork of going house to house, free of charge, to assess the extent to which fixtures, piping, joints, and appliances should be replaced. Then pay them to do the work.
- Establish a new internet site to monitor progress of the foregoing, as well as for residents to submit claim information for early replacement of contaminated components.
A component of the site will be storing data about the updates made on every transmission line, every neighborhood project, and every structure. Many reputable plumbing contractors have already developed similar reporting software for handling annual inspections of commercial and industrial applications. The technology exists to do this now.
- Promptly make monthly water monitoring data available on the internet at no cost, including a full breakdown of all known contaminants and additives (not just those required to be disclosed by law), in easy-to-understand terms, including analytics of legacy and historical data for real-time comparison.
This information should be widely available to residents, as well as media, watchdog groups, and independent auditors to maintain the integrity of the system through constant checks about water quality.
- Increase the frequency of the consumer confidence reports by community water systems required by the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), at 42 U.S.C. § 300g–3(c)(4)(A) from annually to monthly for a period of 10 years.
Most Michigan residents already receive an annual water quality report. That effort needs to be made available to Flint residents and businesses monthly for a long period of time in order to increase consumer confidence if positive results are obtained.
- Offer semi-annual blood testing for all residents, free of charge, regardless of permanent relocation status.
This should be voluntary for residents, and free of charge.
- Supply medical intervention, including evaluation and, if necessary in acute cases, chelation therapy, to all exposed individuals, free of charge.
This should be voluntary for residents, and free of charge. In spite of the high costs involved with chelation therapy, for residents who need medical intervention, but cannot afford it should receive necessary treatments regardless.
- Provide adequate nutritional supplementation appropriate for management of childhood lead contamination, free of charge, regardless of permanent relocation status.
One response to high blood lead levels is ensuring proper nutrition in order to allow the body to develop as normally as possible in spite of the high levels of contaminants. As previously noted, Flint does not have a large chain grocery store, or meaningful access to high nutritional value and fresh foods. Even if these resources are available, most families cannot sustain the budget required to ensure year-long proper nutrition given the high cost of quality food options. Although the State of Michigan offers food assistance benefits, it has also been busy ensuring that fewer people than ever qualify for these benefits.
- Promote the expansion of existing federal, state, and local subsidies to help finance lead hazard control in economically distressed communities, and the creation of new subsidies, if necessary.
Money. That’s what this started as, and that’s what it’s going to take to fix it.
- Alter local ordinances and state laws, including the Michigan Freedom of Information Act, to exempt all state officials from turnover requirements of documentation pertaining to any of the foregoing.
This has been a topic of ongoing discussion in Michigan for some time. Michigan ranks last in states in the United States for laws concerning ethics and transparency according.
As reported by the Detroit Free Press, In 2013, Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law Senate Bill 661, which among other changes enshrined into state law the anonymity of donors who pay for campaign “issue ads” that may praise or criticize candidates for elected office but don’t expressly advocate how people should vote. Such ads have proliferated in recent years as part of the growth in the influence of “dark money” on political campaigns.
Wording was added to the bill to keep the donors secret just hours after Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, who, like Snyder, is a Republican, announced she would seek changes to administrative rules that would require the identify of such donors to be publicly disclosed.
Snyder, who said he favored disclosure of issue ad donor during his first campaign for governor in 2010, argued the bill increased overall transparency by requiring that disclaimers identifying sponsors be included with automated telephone calls, known as robocalls, and other political ads. But campaign finance reform advocates said those changes were minor when compared to the legalizing of dark money under state law. [6]
Instead, nothing has changed. It got worse, and Michigan FOIA is as protective as it ever has been for executive actions.
- Alter state law to exempt state governmental officials from immunity for acts of negligence with regard to any of the foregoing.
- Alter state law to proscribe criminal penalties, including terms of imprisonment, for willful violations of any of the foregoing.
- Alter state law to require the State of Michigan to immediately turnover water quality reports and progress reports on lead abatement, and the costs pertaining thereto, to an independent auditor that is not subject to state control or regulation.
- Fire Darnell Earley as Emergency Manager of Detroit Public Schools, and appoint him to no further positions of authority or control.
The previous 5 ideas are to increase the transparency and accountability of government in Michigan in order to deter this kind of gross negligence and recklessness in the future.
Many of these action items were taken from the following sources:
Managing Elevated Blood Lead Levels Among Young Children: Recommendations From the Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2002. [7]
Oral Chelation Therapy for Patients With Lead Poisoning. Jennifer A. Lowry, MD, Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Medical Toxicology The Childrens’ Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, Kansas City, MO; 2010, reposted by World Health Organization. [8]
Clint Hubbell 