Mark Ruffalo & Bill Maher Expose Degraded State Of Our Water

"The whole nation is Flint. We just don't hear about it until people get sick". Mark Ruffalo on REAL TIME last night.

"I know people don't want to hear about any more bad shit, that hurts you. ...but chloramine - you really gotta put that at the top of your list." Bill Maher on REAL TIME.

 Last night's 'Real Time' instalment was notable for not only the way it totally trashed the juvenile Repuke debate the night before  ("the level of toilet humor and kindergartners") but also exposing the deplorable state of our municipal water systems. This was especially thanks to guest Mark Ruffalo, currently starring in the Oscar nominated film 'Spotlight', and also nominated for Best Actor. Ruffalo is also the founder of the non -profit: www,waterdefense.org

Ruffalo began by pointing out that contrary to the myth California was some liberal, environmental bastion, it actually more resembled a "regressive, libertarian, wild West oil and gas state". In other words, with California guv Jerry Brown fulfilling the role of John Hickenlooper here in Colorado - both in the pockets of the fossil fuel frackers.

Ruffalo also related taking a group of actors,  producers and artists on the 'toxic tour' of LA. This included going to four drill sites in Los Angeles proper, all in relatively poor (91 % minority) neighborhoods.  At each venue the fossil-fuel monkeys were using acidification, extreme drilling, fracking to get their stuff out of the ground with horrific health consequence, including nosebleeds, stomach issues and neurological problems as well as asthma.

As he pointed out, sadly  - thanks to the bought and sold media which prefers PR to facts and truth - "the whole nation is like Flint (Michigan). We just don't hear about it until people get sick".

This then led into the discussion of the mass use of a toxic water purifier called chloramine, with Bill Maher referencing a recent visit by activist Erin Brockovitch to get people to pay attention to what's happening to their water. Chloramine is a cheaper substitute for chlorine - that used to be used in the 'old' days (1960es, 70s)  but has now become too expensive for budget -stressed, low tax cities that think they can run only on Repuke administrations and "less government".

Chloramines (one form of which is what was used to purify the water in Flint) are basically ammonia and chlorine compounds that are far more corrosive to lead pipes (which are all across the country) than chlorine. As Bill read out the chloramine -affected cities: Washington, DC, San Francisco, LA, Denver, Miami, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Minneapolis, San Diego, Portland, Austin, Houston - viewers had to sit up and take note, or should have.

As Bill also pointed out: "It kills all fish and other animals, people on kidney dialysis treatments can't drink it  and these should be indicators that maybe we shouldn't be using it"

As Ruffalo asked: "We are one of the biggest industrial nations in the world. Why can't we trust the water that comes out of our tap?"

Then answering: "Because we don't trust the agencies that are supposed to take care of us! We're the richest country in the world and we don't give a damn about our people!"

Which is also a point I've made multiple times before, in connection with the refusal to label GMO foods, the extent of fracking's contamination of our air, soil and water and the use of cancer causing pesticides and weedicides. All have been swept under the rug by a complicit and now useless media that is often compromised by having the CEOs of the offending industries sitting on their boards.

The water and lead contamination issue has only come to the fore because of the outside investigations of a Univ. Of Virginia prof who found extraordinary corrosion in lead pipes- thanks to a chloramine used to disinfect Flint River water. But now we  know this isn't confined to Flint by any means as noted in a recent WSJ piece ('Lead Pipes Vex Many Cities').

The piece noted that Flint alone "has no choice but to spend an estimated $55 million to replace all the lead pipes leading to homes".

But adding:

"Now, utility officials across the country are calculating the cost of getting rid of their lead water lines, a task that could take years, disrupt tens of millions of homes and businesses and require billions of dollars in spending".

Will the cheapskate bastards who rule our cities finally raise taxes and get the damned job done? Not bloody likely, despite the risk that hundreds of Flints are now likely to erupt in the coming years thanks to: 1) using cheap disinfectants to purify water supplies, and 2) inattention to our overall crumbling infrastructure -which some morons actually believe to be just a ruse of the American Society for Civil Engineers. What? So THEY can get rich? Give me a fuckin' break. But I suppose these deadheads think it's similar to "climate scientists getting rich from the global warming hoax".

The bottom line, as the article also notes, is the EPA estimates there are "10 million lead service lines that link water mains in streets to buildings"

The American Water Works Association, which represents 4,000 water utilities, estimates the average cost for each replacement line at about $5,000 - for a total of $32. 5 billion (based on a lower limit of 6.5 million lines to replace).

Tracy Mehan III, executive director of government affairs for the AWWA believes all lead lines will eventually have to be replaced, adding that municipalities will likely have to raise funds through a blend of local, state and federal sources"

And dare I say the T -word? Yes, I will: TAXES!

See also:
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/gaius-publius/66222/a-vote-for-hillary-clinton-is-a-vote-for-fracking

Flint Water Debacle - Yet Another Result Of Our Crumbling Infrastructure

The water calamity unfolding in Flint, MI has many causes - including the neglect and crass cost-saving efforts of the Repuke Snyder administration (decision to use water from the Flint River instead of tapping Detroit's). But the primary oversight was in not attending to the city's deplorable water pipes - already corroded even before the Flint River change caused lead to leach from the pipes into the water. Effectively poisoning thousands of kids in the city, with devastating consequences to I.Q. as well as probably leading to higher crime rates.  See e.g.
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/lead-crime-link-gasoline

This is part and parcel of the ongoing national debacle of allowing a rotting infrastructure to proliferate. We act like essential idiots, paying more attention to the Business News crawl of the DOW's daily gyrations, than to our REAL wealth - tied up in water mains, pipes. highways, bridges and sewer systems. Yet the cost of that unattended and lackadaisically maintained infrastructure is growing by the day. The American Society of Civil Engineers already estimates a cost of over $2 trillion to attain a stage of basic repair.

The water pipe issues, in fact, are not new. Many may recall barely two years ago the incident near Charleston, WVA,  At that time a solvent known as MCHM ( methylcyclohexane methanol ) leaked from a chemical storage plant and invaded the entire water supply system from the treatment plant to the pipes in people's homes. Even after the water itself had been restored to its original drinkable-washable form, it remained subject to re-contamination as it passed through the now MCHM -laden pipes.  Hence, the complaints of people (as reported on the news shows then) that they still smelled the licorice odor of the chemical. Of course they did, because the water collected it as it's transferred into and out of the pipes. To be clear-  as in Flint -  all the pipes needed to be replaced, though the authorities were reluctant to admit it.

Too much expense. But they're perfectly ok with thousands being poisoned and health expenses.

As long ago as 2011, The Economist   ('Life in the Slow Lane', Apil 30, p. 29) delivered a blistering assessment of the nation's infrastructure that was enough to make any red-blooded American sit up and take note. Then puke.

In examining the state of U.S. infrastructure, especially in comparison to other industrialized western nations, we brought up the rear in just about every category. It was enough of an Rx to cure once and for all the misplaced and delusional belief in American exceptionalism.

It is really eerie, creepy and more than a little sickening, to behold how so many in this country have been eerily fixated on the rise and fall of the stupid DOW while their national infrastructure has essentially regressed to the status of a third world nation's. It is more than a little frightening also, that people can become so transfixed by an artificial set of numbers based on phantom money  (e.g. http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2009/04/why-few-will-make-money-with-stocks.html ) while the very concrete developments that support it lay crumbling across the land: from burst sewer mains in Atlanta, to burst water mains in Colorado Springs and Denver (most over 100 years old), to collapsing bridges such as the one shown in Minneapolis from some years back. All symptoms of a country with misplaced priorities. A nation that would rather piss trillions away on military occupations  and tax cuts (like the $660b one in December) than spend for true domestic security.

The Economist piece noted that while the American highway system (mainly constructed in the 1950s when infrastructure spending was a healthy 4.8% of GDP) was a shining beacon, it is now a near travesty. The degenerating quality of the roads sees Americans spending more time commuting than nearly all Europeans with the exception of the Hungarians and Romanians, still trying to dig out from the communist-depleted pasts. The longer commute time means more time wasted as well as more potential for deadly accidents.

Rail is not much better. What most of us who have traveled overseas behold here is not a patch on the rail systems of the Germans, Austrians  or Swiss. In fact, the rail systems here are downright retro by comparison. While the fastest U.S. rail transit is the northeastern corridor's Acela (between D.C. and Boston) which moves at 70 mph, the French TGV from Paris to Lyon travels at an average speed of twice that, or 140 mph. Japanese trains go even faster, up to 220 mph. Not only are American trains slow, the Economist observed, they are usually late, with a 77% punctuality rating compared to 99.9% for the Swiss and 98% for the Germans. But then the Swiss and Germans don't squander their capital and resources on useless "wars".

The Economist noted that "between 1956 and 1992 America constructed the interstate highway system, among the largest public works projects in history which criss-crossed the contry with nearly 50,000 miles of motorways." So what happened? Well, according to the report, "modern America is stingier". The total public spending on works is now barely 2.4% of GDP compared to the average 5% of GDP in European nations. I would also add that this diminished contribution parallels the nation's ever diminishing vision, which has almost correlated with its increasing finacialization, e.g. enhancing growth in "financial services" - stock managers, bond traders, investment bankers...at the expense of supporting engineering works.

And don't even get me started on antiquated water and sewer systems now affecting over 22,000 mid to large size communities with pipes over 75 years and corroding just like Flint's.  Rather than replace the damned pipes with new ones, the cheapskates have taken to using a chemical proclaimed to inhibit corrosive effects and prevent lead from leaching out. But this is a temporary fix at best and eventually those pipes will have to be replace or we will all be facing a water crisis just like Flint's.

What is the solution? WHERE do we get that $2 trillion to begin maintaining our infrastructure - which admittedly is not as sexy as stocks? The Economist for its part (p. 31) proposed introducing a "fuel tax rate increase"(currently at 18.4 c a gallon) but they also noted that "these are even more unpopular than deficits". Well, tough luck! Do Americans want to be able to keep driving without breaking an axle on a pothole or not? DO they want to retain other benefits, like drinkable water, or not? It's time to make up their minds! And it's time for politicians to stop game-playing and coddling people with the myth they can have endless tax cuts and also have a prosperous nation.

Flint is the 'canary in the coal mine' warning us of the dystopic future that we all face if we don't wake the fuck up for once and get our national priorities in order!