A scientist who was part of an Environmental Protection Agency taskforcedisclosed documents to The Guardian which shows how water boards are distorting tests to make their water appear safer, a practice confirmed by an anonymous source:
The controversial approach to water testing is so widespread that it occurs in “every major US city east of the Mississippi” according to an anonymous source with extensive knowledge of the lead and copper regulations. “By word of mouth, this has become the thing to do in the water industry. The logical conclusion is that millions of people’s drinking water is potentially unsafe,” he said.
Specific cities named included Detroit and Philadelphia, and the entire state of Rhode Island.
The documents in question were obtained via FOIA by Dr. Yanna Lambrinidou, who sat on the Environment Protection Agency taskforce that recently proposed revisions on the federal rules for lead. Lambrinidou told The Guardian that more rigorous oversight will reveal more offenders: “There is no way that Flint is a one-off.”
This does not mean the Environment Protection Agency is being lax in its regulations, necessarily—rather it’s the agency’s guidelines that are being ignored by those who are contracted to administer the tests. For example, in Philadelphia and Michigan, testers were instructed by local water boards to run the water for two minutes or until cold before testing for lead, a practice called “pre-flushing,” which is seen as controversial.
more @ the link.
But but but, we don’t need an effective epa! Heavy industry will regulate itself!
I’m tired of house hunters. No more white people choosing between 3 equally nice houses in the suburbs. Instead, I want a show about average millenials trying to find apartments in major cities. Give me a 25 year old trying to find somewhere habitable in NYC for $1k a month. Give me a grad student looking for a flat in San Francisco on their shoestring budget. Give me a young adult who just got a starter job in Paris and now has to figure out how to move there. Will joe choose the place with a couch for a bed, or will he go for the closet-sized crawl space? Will Kat manage to find some place in the city, or will she end up with a 2 hour commute? Will Chris go for the barely renovated warehouse or will he start sleeping in the break room at work? Find out next week on I Don’t Want to Be Homeless
I’m sitting on the front steps where the drunk used to always be. Now I’m the drunk.
Please let me in. It’s cold.
I told myself I could never love you. I tell myself a lot of things.
Like that maybe if I wait down here long enough, you’ll finally let me in. Two people from your building already opened the door. One coming, one going. But I didn’t let myself in.
Please, will you just let me in.
Come down here to find me tears streaming, screaming, unsure weather to slap you or hug you, kiss or wring your neck.
I hated you because you wanted it all. But it was me the whole time. I wanted to love you and tell myself I didn’t. I wanted to love you. Now all I want is to be let inside.
It’s getting colder. Do I have to beg? On my hands and knees for your attention one last time? Just to be sure of what I already know to be true is true.
It’s been 30 minutes.
Mark my words however long it takes for you to come down here will be the longest I ever wait around for anyone ever again.
