02-05-2021, 04:50 PM
C(-)ris wrote:
[quote=rjmacs]
[quote=C(-)ris]
It is a state issue, and more specifically a municipal issue not a federal issue.
How do you mean?
Drinking water quality is absolutely a federal issue, as is protecting children from lead poisoning. The EPA has been centrally involved in this for decades.
For enforcement, testing, and to identify problems and order fixes? Yup, all federal. You need the watchdog to keep them honest. As far as FIXING the problem, that is on the municipality or the state to fund and implement. Their town, their water, their self caused mess, they pay to fix it. If they can't, then the federal government needs to sue the state for payment or to force them to fix it. Either way, Federal dollars shouldn't bail out Michigan tax payers. They voted these people in that were making the decisions.
With respect, that's a simplistic reading of the situation. The EPA has a responsibility to ensure safe drinking water for Americans. They often, through MOUs and other agreements, devolve that responsibility to state environmental agencies. Nonetheless, they are ultimately responsible, and in the case of Flint the EPA was clearly negligent in that responsibility.
The governor in MI directly caused this catastrophe, by ordering that the water supply be changed from the Detroit system (drawn from the Great Lakes water system) to the Flint River, which was clearly an unsafe choice. The EPA had a mandate to prevent that kind of mistake from happening, and they didn't.
Using federal dollars to fix this problem, in conjunction with state monies, is entirely appropriate. It smacks of racism to blame the residents of Flint for something that started with the governor and was done without their consent or input.