Flint Water: A Political Football. Part 11

So what's it all about Alfie?

Ready for some speculating? Because that's where this here post is going to go.

How did this happen, not how as in they used Flint River water, duh! Or its because they were run by Democrats, or because of genocide.  All of those are put out there as theories, but they really can't explain the "how."

Let's start with this document:

...in particular Question 5's answer.  The question is not important, nor is the contaminant.  What is notable is this part of the response:

What we discovered is that as water travels through the 600 miles of the City’s distribution mains it will, at times, reside in the system for up to 3 or 4 weeks. Water purchased from [Detroit Water and Sewerage Department] DWSD is drawn from Lake Huron, chlorinated, and then travels over 80 miles to reach the City. By the time the water reaches Flint it is stable and capable of withstanding this type of residency time within the system. Water drawn from the Flint River, specifically in summer months when the temperature is fluctuating, is more susceptible to being impacted by variables such as high residency times and increased chemical reaction.

It's all about water chemistry and they were unprepared to handle it. Now let's go back to the decision to use the Flint River as their water source.

On March 25th 2013, after evaluating cost comparisons for a permanent water source approv[ed] a resolution to purchase water from the Karegnondi Water Authority (KWA).

This is important to understand,  Before the Flint River was used as the water source, the city of Flint purchased water from the DWSD.  The resolution passed was to start purchasing the water from KWA.

The word to focus on is purchase.

On April 17th, 2013 DWSD sent a letter terminating the existing water service contract between the City of Flint and Detroit.  With the termination set to take effect 12 months later on April 17th 2014, a gap was created between the end of the DWSD contract and the start of the KWA.

This "gap" is where the problem began.  Their answer, to use the Flint River, was the wrong decision to make.  Not wrong in hindsight, but wrong because of that word "purchase" used previously.

On June 29th 2013, following many preliminary discussions on how the City would fill the interim gap, a formal, all day meeting was held at the Flint Water Plant with all interested parties including City of Flint Officials (COF), representatives from the Genesee County Drain Commissioners Office (GCDC), the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), and the design engineers from the previous plant upgrade Lockwood, Andrews, and Newnam (LAN).

We learn this from a deposition on an unrelated issue:

Ambrose [Flint's financial manager] testified under oath in 2014 that Kurtz [Flint Emergency Manager at the time] considered using water from the Flint River for the city’s drinking water, but rejected it after consulting the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. The plan was found “not to be feasible,”

That took place in December of 2012.  Here is where it gets good...

“Who determined it wasn’t feasible?” the attorney asked. 

“It was a collective decision of the emergency management team based on conversations with the MDEQ that indicated they would not be supportive of the use of the Flint River on a long-term basis as a primary source of water,” replied Ambrose.

“What was the reason they gave?” asked the attorney

“You’ll have to ask them,” Ambrose replied.

On June 29th 2013 to April 25th, Flint needed to switch from a purchaser of water to a treater of drinking water. That's 10 months to build the capacity - both in capability and structure -to treat drinking water.

Why is this problematic?  Let's look at this May 2013 report from their neighbor, the City of Cleo, who is also a purchaser of drinking water.

Water systems who purchase drinking water don't treat water.  They pass it on, make sure they monitor it, and, for the most part, set it and forget it.  The job to treat and make sure it is safe is the producer of the drinking water, which was Detroit for many years..

Speculation: The Flint Water System was not set up to treat drinking water, especially the type of water, with its wacky water chemistry. They lacked the knowledge, the chemistry, and treatment prowess necessary to get this done in 10 months when the Flint River spigot was turned on.

They were aware of the need to do so, it appears:

It was understood that the Flint River would be subject to temperature variations, rain events, and have higher organic carbon than Lake Huron water and would be more difficult to treat. These facts were balanced against a licensed staff, LAN engineering’s extensive experience in this field, advanced equipment that Flint has for treatment, and support from the DEQ.

 In hindsight that was underestimated and in my opinion folly to think they could.


Next post: Flint Water: A Political Football.  Part 12