A HUGE WATER CRISIS IN JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI, WHERE OFFICIALS SAW IT COMING BUT DID NOTHING.
The scary part of this story is that this is something that could, or may be happening, anywhere in our country and has happened many times before. Compound this with potable water shortages now, or on the horizon, all over the world, and we may have a big problem soon. In this case, the Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”), confirmed that Mississippi’s health department had confirmed evidence of elevated lead levels in 2015.
In the summer of 2015, Jackson officials “sent the state a series of water samples taken at different locations throughout the city’s public water system. Residents had complained for weeks about the low pressure in their taps, and the city wanted to test the distribution system to check for possible contamination.” The Mississippi State Department of Health confirmed elevated lead levels in the water supply. But instead of immediately informing Jackson officials about this serious public health risk, the Department of Health did nothing for a half year. Without any published warnings, the Department of Health had to know that residents would unknowingly continue to drink the toxic water.
EPA officials were unaware of what was going on until it conducted an independent inspection of the city water system in February and March of 2020. Besides finding some of the usual damage like “a network of pipes plagued by leaks,” and poor corrosion control, it also confirmed the elevated lead levels. Even though the EPA immediately issued an emergency order to make improvements and rectify the violations, it was already too little, too late, because “the following winter, Jackson experienced a system-wide failure during a storm, causing several areas of the city to go without water for weeks. Then, in August 2022, the city’s main water treatment plant failed due to heavy flooding, precipitating ahigh-profile public health crisis that captured the attention of the nation.” Many residents lost faith in the city and still do not feel the city’s system can deliver safe drinking water.
“Last year, the Biden administration secured an unprecedented $600 million in emergency funds for Jackson to repair its treatment plants and distribution network.” But they still have a long way to go because residents are still reporting “off-colored, smelly tap water.”
The city water treatment system is critically important to the health of its users. Water treatment systems all over the country have had, and are having problems stemming from old, damaged, leaky pipes, outdated equipment and failsafe systems, and material increases in population putting more pressure on the system. Broken pipes have led to serious flooding of untreated sewer water. It’s prudent for people to begin paying attention to and informing themselves on the status of their water systems, because sometimes we never know.
Source:
https://grist.org/accountability/jackson-water-crisis-mississippi-epa-inspector-general-report/
Photo by Luis Quintero: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-gray-faucet-2339722/
