I went to my water utility's website to find out their numbers. First I was shocked that they publish their numbers only once a year! And even in that report they say last lead measurement was in 2013 because Department of Health only requites measurement every 3 years! With Trump about to set loose entire Oil, gas and fracking industry like never before this might get lot worse.
Thousands of U.S. locales where lead poisoning is worse than in Flint
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Re: Thousands of U.S. locales where lead poisoning is worse than in Flint
#22This is a public health disaster. It's tough to really fathom the number of children across the country that will suffer mental and behavioral problems for life because of this.
Why are there not more lawsuits? Is the scope of the damage too difficult to quantify, or the negligent parties too diffuse/remote to sue?
As much as our litigation-based culture is vilified, it can help spur action by changing the cost/benefit of doing nothing and force companies/governments to step up and fix this before more people are hurt. The risk of Mesothelioma lawsuits, for example, help add some seriousness to asbestos exposure claims.
Re: Thousands of U.S. locales where lead poisoning is worse than in Flint
#23So Reuters is finally getting around to doing their job; moving beyond a sensationalized story which sells ads, to the unglamorous work of uncovering the truth, that Flint isn't special at all and that the government knew that and has been covering it up. It's a shame they couldn't get around to reporting the truth behind the sensation a year ago when public outcry was enough to get substantial Federal funding alloca…
Flint made news because the problem was new. Flint water used to be safe, and then it became unsafe. There are a lot of problems nobody bothers with because they're not new problems.
Flint also made news because local control was subverted by the state to make the decision.
Re: Thousands of U.S. locales where lead poisoning is worse than in Flint
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
Here is my experience FOIA requesting 100+ universities: http://austingwalters.com/foia-requesting-100-universities/ In short, you often have to get on the phone, email, snail mail, go in person, and pay quite a bit to get records. It's a very painful process. Careful what you offer lol
summary of the new star wars movie: the tale of an extremely complicated and costly FOIA request
This is the best star wars joke Ive read in a long time. Brilliant. :D
Re: Thousands of U.S. locales where lead poisoning is worse than in Flint
#25It is hard to sue government. It is even harder to make them lose their jobs. When it comes to compensation they will simply use our own money to pay back.
Utilities remains a major pain in USA partly because of the ridiculous government control which invariably leads to corruption.
I have been exclusively using distilled water in Sunnyvale for last 3 years. Water in Sunnyvale has dangerous levels of pesticides if not lead.
Re: Thousands of U.S. locales where lead poisoning is worse than in Flint
#26Instead, Reuters sought testing data at the neighborhood level, in census tracts or zip code areas, submitting records requests to all 50 states. Too bed there's no way to study the dataset directly short of repeating the process.
I'll pay for and perform the FOIA requests through muckrock.com if you do the analysis.
I'm not sure I'm competent to do that, but this isn't the first time we've had this sort of conversation. Maybe you could drop me a line at gmail outlining your interest.
Re: Thousands of U.S. locales where lead poisoning is worse than in Flint
#27and these same people vote in people that shut down the epa and do everything possible to poison their children. let them get what they asked for.
Consider the possibility that lead poisoning inflicts just the type of mental disabilities that would lead a person to vote in such a fashion to begin with. With that in mind, is this really how you feel?
Re: Thousands of U.S. locales where lead poisoning is worse than in Flint
#28Will they get the same attention? Will the nation ever upgrade and repair ancient and disastrous infrastructure?
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Re: Thousands of U.S. locales where lead poisoning is worse than in Flint
#29So Reuters is finally getting around to doing their job; moving beyond a sensationalized story which sells ads, to the unglamorous work of uncovering the truth, that Flint isn't special at all and that the government knew that and has been covering it up. It's a shame they couldn't get around to reporting the truth behind the sensation a year ago when public outcry was enough to get substantial Federal funding alloca…
I wonder to what extent Michael Moore's Flint pedigree influenced the media. I'm guessing it's decidedly non-zero. Edit: this was not intended as a dig at Michael Moore or anyone else. The fact that he made a documentary featuring Flint means that more people than otherwise should be are aware of the place, hence, media stories about it are more likely to gain traction with the general population. Michael Moore human…
The problem is, this kind of speculation really goes nowhere. It's unprovable. And, even if there was a connection between peripheral awareness of Flint due to Moore and the legs this story has...so what?
Re: Thousands of U.S. locales where lead poisoning is worse than in Flint
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder to what extent Michael Moore's Flint pedigree influenced the media. I'm guessing it's decidedly non-zero. Edit: this was not intended as a dig at Michael Moore or anyone else. The fact that he made a documentary featuring Flint means that more people than otherwise should be are aware of the place, hence, media stories about it are more likely to gain traction with the general population. Michael Moore human…
The problem is, this kind of speculation really goes nowhere. It's unprovable. And, even if there was a connection between peripheral awareness of Flint due to Moore and the legs this story has...so what?
Fair enough. I disagree that it's unprovable, but I'm certainly not going to reach any solid conclusions by posting on a forum :)