Snyder state of the state vs DEQ Report

[jfc123]

My take on tonight's state of the state address, Snyder spilled the facts, which in turn threw the EPA, DEQ, and local government all under the bus. He put blame where blame was due, pulled out all the stops and attacked! He was only looking to save his legacy and clear his name and the republican party from disgrace. This reminds me of a 480 page DEQ report, that I did not pay/ask for, our government did, but now am very happy they did! Guess its falling in the same pattern? Maybe the mayor, city manager, or council are nervous? I doubt it, they believe they are elite and untouchable, they are not! I have been in contact with Snyder's administration and getting positive response, probably due to Flint, a much larger city. But there is no stopping until Ludington cleans their mess and stop trying to harm the poor people that live in this area of Ludington! Its just a matter of time before Ludington is the new Flint. Where is the local media? Why are they so weak? If Ludington pulls their ads how are they going to comply with what they need to make public like the public agenda, etc.? They wont! They will be in contempt, another area to come after them! Time to stand up and go after and make sure what is done is right for all citizens, we did not pick this battle they did! Why are the tourists any better that visit the city marinas any better than the ones that visit the bayou? Why are the kids that fish at the bayou, or nearby families that walk their dogs or with their families not deserving of a city doing what is right? I have emailed many local reporters here this thread and asked them for references or leads to anyone in the area that wants to make a name for themselves. With Flint this is the perfect time! Message me and we can talk/meet! Ludington residents deserve better dammit!

[Willy]

For those who missed Snyder's State of the State Address

 

[XLFD]

Here's the prepared speech on the Flint water crisis from that speech:  http://www.scribd.com/doc/296031222/Gov-Rick-Snyder-s-full-text-fro...

Some folks want to crucify Snyder for this because he is at the top of the food chain of the State, but there is no smoking gun leading any sane individual to thinking he had direct involvement.  The decision makers were mostly Democratic leaders of Flint and Detroit, including Democratic-leaning Snyder appointed Emergency Financial Managers Kevyn Orr of Detroit and Darnell Earley of Flint. 

The Democrat-infused Michigan DEQ and the Federal EPA also dropped the ball, so to hold Snyder as a scapegoat (for this) when Flint, Detroit, and inefficient bureaucrats politics-as-usual seem to be the culprits is wrong.  It would be like taking Snyder to task for the neglect of our local water ecosystem that Ludington leadership has enacted over the years.

[XLFD]

jfc123,

Good luck in your efforts to get these problems corrected and be sure to keep track and tell us of how local officials and media react, which up to this point they haven't.  You will help in establishing a record showing how such problems arise and are allowed to fester, when they should be addressed as quickly as possible. 

[Willy]

From what information I can gather the number of people with significant levels of lead is a small percentage of the population. I think the estimated number of people tested was 2000+ with only about 45 actual cases of people with elevated lead. Hardly a major catastrophe. From what I know about City water systems, I'm positive that Flint has had this level of contamination for many, many years, probably 100 years or more. Every city has lead pipes somewhere, even Ludington. If the people of Ludington were to be tested, my guess would be that the same percentage of people or more would have the same levels of lead found in Flint's population. And I dare say that every city in Michigan would have some portion of the population test positive for lead.

Also every inch of exposed land in every city in Michigan has large amounts of lead due to leaded gasoline being burned for umpteen years along with all the lead paint scraped off houses which dropped to the ground and leached into the soil for years. If people only knew just how much lead is in the environment they wouldn't  spend any time in their yards. Yards that are covered with thick grass with no exposed dirt are the safest.

[jfc123]

Guess I can only go by our Governors own admissions. I would never try to make less of what has happened, oh and btw 45 is way to DAMN many, even if what you say is correct! Like what has been stated we are talking about Ludington in "relation" to Flint. Things we know, the waste water plant, road, raw sewage went into the bayou for days! Granholm signed a declaration and released funds to clean it, way back in 2008. The COL council rebuilt the road nothing more. If there was no issue why were the beaches closed for awhile after? Where did the money go? Why are private owned business not able to function while Ludington is seeking a 1.2-1.8 million loan to rebuild their own marinas? Why do the people of this area not get proper representation by our local government? So many questions? The governor wants this on his desk, as he said in his speech. Why wont the COL try to get it there and get things better for ALL there, not just the privileged!

[Willy]

It's possible nothing was done about the bayou because disturbing the bottom might stir up more problems than it would solve and by leaving the mess buried in the sand may have be the best solution. Of course we may never know since the City leaders do not reveal much of anything to the public. Did the test of the bayou include the water itself or just the sand on the bottom? I would be curious to know exactly what is in the water that enters into the bayou from the drain and the water that flows out of the bayou into PM Lake.

[jfc123]

Inbox me your address and I will put the DEQ report on a sd card and send it to you tomorrow. It is too big to email. If I dumped a load of shit and road on the city marina do you think they would have came after me to clean it up, specially if it was not usable? Fair is fair!

[Willy]

I appreciate the offer jfc123 but I'm not very good at reading and deciphering technical reports, especially those that could fill a phone book. There might  be others out there who will take you up on your offer. Why not send an sd card with the report on it to every Councilor, the Mayor, the City Attorney and the LDN because then they would not be unable to say they can't comment on the report because they had no copy of it or they were not aware of the report and it's contents. .

[stump]

The contaminants came from up stream, east of Washington ave. . Even if the bayou was cleaned up completely, the contaminated ground is still laying in wait for another heavy rain or maybe just the normal run off is still polluting the bayou. Has anyone checked into that? It wouldn't do any good to one cleanup without doing the complete job.

[Willy]

As stump says, if the ground is contaminated at the origin of the drain then this may be bigger than just the bayou. We may have another "Love Canal" on our hands.

[AQUAMAN]

That type of contamination, probably not as serious, is most likely all the way out to the end of the Lud. Yacht Club, or maybe ALL of PM Lake. It should be noted, just after that storm for 8 days or so, the entire waterfront of that bayou out to the LYC had signage posted by the MC Health Dept.. The sign said DANGER: Water in this area is dangerous to human contact. Do not fish, swim, drink, or wash with this water until further notice. By order of the Mason County Health Dept.. The signage remained there most of the summer. I can tell you for a fact, just by visual sight, the lake in that area smelled badly, and turned brown, yes very dark brown, and stayed that way for most of the summer until about 60 days later. Never ever saw anything like that in all my life, probably about 50 years then. Just my two cents, personal observations of hundreds could probably concur with me. Many called,including me, to the MC Health Dept. to ascertain what to do, and what they were going to do. The answer was pretty stupid at best. The answer I got was the road at Madison was their main concern, along with fixing the collapsed sewer pipes, that was the extent of it. Nothing mentioned about cleaning the water and the bottom of the bayou at all. When pressed on that, they could not answer, and so, here we are today, nothing done, nothing going to be done, no one admits fault, no one even making any effort to get funds for cleanup, just the routine of arrogance and denial. LIke jfc said, had it been in the city marina or around the harbor view marina, I'm positive this would have been declared some emergency, and it would have been cleaned up long ago. We bayou-types don't fit the profile of eligible citizens that deserve clean water anyhow, right?

[Willy]

I think I remember those posters Aquaman. I wonder what sort of records the County has on file regarding this matter? The City, County, State or Federal officials need to put some finality to this situation by either cleaning up what is there or issuing a report or statement that there is currently no health risk and that there will be none in the future. Either way, the acknowledgement of the situation is essential so that the public knows what the status is for the waters of and land around the bayou and PM lake. The Bayou is continually in a state of flux so it wouldn't be a bad idea for concerned citizens to form some sort of committee in order to keep an eye on the situation and to maintain a presence that would require the continuing attention of Government officials. The low water levels in the bayou back in 2012 is a good example where attention should have been given to the bayou's condition by officials and an investigation or report of it's health be maintained and on file for all to see.