If you’re drinking water directly from the tap, there’s a chance it contains potentially harmful “forever chemicals,” according to a study <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/news/national-news-release/tap-water-study-detects-pfas-forever-chemicals-across-us" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> Wednesday by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). 
The study found that 45% of the tap water in the United States likely contains at least one “forever chemical,” also known as per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS). The chemicals are believed to possibly cause numerous health problems in humans, including increased cancer risk, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure, <a href="https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/pfas/health-effects/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per</a> the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 
&#8220;USGS scientists tested water collected directly from people’s kitchen sinks across the nation, providing the most comprehensive study to date on PFAS in tap water from both private wells and public supplies,” Kelly Smalling, USGS research hydrologist and lead author of the study, said.
“The study estimates that at least one type of PFAS — of those that were monitored — could be present in nearly half of the tap water in the U.S. Furthermore, PFAS concentrations were similar between public supplies and private wells,” Smalling added. 
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At least 45% of the nation’s tap water could have one or more types of the chemicals known as <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PFAS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PFAS</a>, according to a new USGS study. This study is the first to analyze PFAS in tap water from both private and public supplies broadly throughout the US. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/water?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#water</a> <a href="https://t.co/S2WteG9R26">https://t.co/S2WteG9R26</a> <a href="https://t.co/zz85IqZwni">pic.twitter.com/zz85IqZwni</a>
&mdash; USGS (@USGS) <a href="https://twitter.com/USGS/status/1676667327532912641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2023</a></blockquote>
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The USGS explains that forever chemicals are synthetic and used in various everyday items, including nonstick pots and pans and fast food box linings. Other products that can contain PFAS include shampoo, nail polish, candy wrappers, pizza boxes, and microwave popcorn bags, <a href="https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/pfas/health-effects/exposure.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the CDC. Even products for babies are not immune from forever chemicals — they have been detected in clothing, toys, and bedding, the Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11390811/Toxic-forever-chemicals-childrens-clothes-bedding.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a>.  
Of the more than 12,000 different types of PFAS, the USGS only monitored 32 because many forever chemicals cannot be detected with tests available today, the government agency explained. They are referred to as “forever chemicals” because of the prolonged period of time they take to break down. 
As for the most commonly found forever chemicals detected, the USGS says PFOs, PFBS, PFHxS, and PFOA appeared regularly. 
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Americans who live in urban areas are more likely to encounter PFAS in drinking water, the study says. PFAS exposure was higher in the Great Plains, Great Lakes region, Central and Southern California, and the Eastern Seaboard. During the research, which the USGS says is the first study of its kind, tap water samples were tested at 716 locations “representing a range of low, medium and high human-impacted areas.” 
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, forever chemicals “<a href="https://www.epa.gov/pfas/our-current-understanding-human-health-and-environmental-risks-pfas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">may lead to</a>” decreased fertility, developmental delays in children, behavioral changes, accelerated puberty, hormonal interference, decreased immune response, and increased risk of obesity, among other potential health effects. 
“PFAS can get into drinking water when products or wastes containing them are disposed of, used or spilled onto the ground or into lakes and rivers,” the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/pfasresponse/faq/categories/pfas-101" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a> notes. “PFAS move easily through the ground, getting into groundwater that is used for some water supplies or for private drinking water wells.”

Tap Water Glass

Nearly Half Of U.S. Tap Water Contains ‘Forever Chemicals,’ Government Study Finds

Chemicals

Drinking Water

General

Health

Bud Light is even cheaper than water, at least at one Pennsylvania store.
The beer brand and its parent company, Anheuser-Busch, have been stuck in a public relations nightmare since it struck an endorsement deal with Dylan Mulvaney, a flamboyant trans influencer who claims to be a woman. Mulvaney <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqgTftujqZc/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;ig_rid=be47ac0a-7017-4d6d-a424-8dcf6d27a837" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVGDPlG42bU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a> to his 1.8 million Instagram followers April 1, and sales of Bud Light promptly cratered.
“This month I celebrated my day 365 of womanhood, and Bud Light sent me possibly the best gift ever, a can with my face on it,” Mulvaney said.
After beer drinkers abandoned Bud Light in droves, the company put two of the marketing execs behind the ill-advised idea on ice. But sales have not rebounded, even with prices marked down.
“At this point, it’s cheaper than some of the cases of water we’re selling in the back,” Andy Wagner, the manager of Glenn Miller’s Beer &amp; Soda Warehouse in Lemoyne, Pennsylvania, told the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/29/business/bud-light-sales.html?searchResultPosition=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Times</a>. “It’s just not moving like it used to.”
“It’s not that they stopped drinking beer,” he continued. “They just stopped buying Bud Light.”  He said Anheuser-Busch broke “bar rules,&#8221; which means “no politics, no religion.”
Bud Light was the best-selling beer in the United States for over 20 years. In 2022, its sales surpassed $5 billion, but it has now been surpassed by Modelo Especial. In the four weeks ending in mid-June, Bud Light sales plummeted an average of 29 percent from the same period in 2022, according to the consulting firm Bump Williams. Since early April, Anheuser-Busch’s stock has plunged over 15%.
The CEO of Bud Light&#8217;s parent company still wouldn’t admit putting Mulvaney&#8217;s picture on a can of beer was a mistake, despite the enormous backlash. Brendan Whitworth, a Marine Corps veteran and ex-CIA employee, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/anheuser-busch-ceo-asked-if-hed-send-can-to-mulvaney-again-he-refuses-to-answer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appeared on CBS</a> “This Morning,” where he called the backlash “divisive.”
“I think the conversation surrounding Bud Light has moved away from beer and the conversation has become divisive,” Whitworth said. “Bud Light really doesn’t belong there; Bud Light should be about bringing people together.”
Asked what the intention of the company was in sending Mulvaney the can of beer emblazoned with his picture, Whitworth reiterated the company’s statement from early May, declaring, “It was a gift and it was one can.”
Co-host Tony Dokoupil asked, “Knowing what you know now, if you go back, would you send a can to this one person again?”
“There’s a big social conversation taking place right now and big brands are right in the middle of it,” Whitworth replied. “And it’s not just our industry or Bud Light. It’s happening in retail, it’s happening in fast food. And so, for us, what we need to understand is — deeply understand and appreciate — is the consumer, and what they want, what they care about, and what they expect from big brands.”
“Where are you on the issue? Was this a mistake?” Dokoupil pressed.
Again, Whitworth ducked the question.
“Bud Light has supported LGBTQ since 1998, so that’s 25 years,” he said. “And as we’ve said from the beginning, we’ll continue to support the communities and organizations that we’ve supported for decades. But as we move forward, we want to focus on what we do best, which is brewing great beer for everyone, listening to our consumers, being humble in listening to them, making sure we do right by our employees, take care and support our partners, and ultimately make an impact in the communities that we serve.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/anheuser-busch-ceo-asked-if-hed-send-can-to-mulvaney-again-he-refuses-to-answer">Anheuser-Busch CEO Asked If He’d Send Can To Mulvaney Again. He Refuses To Answer.</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/one-single-can-anheuser-busch-sends-letter-to-minimize-disastrous-mulvaney-backlash">‘One Single Can’: Anheuser-Busch Sends Letter To Minimize Disastrous Mulvaney Backlash</a>

Collage Maker-05-Jul-2023-10-16-AM-5834

Bud Light Now Cheaper Than Water Following Dylan Mulvaney Debacle

Anheuser-Busch

Bud Light

Officials in Philadelphia are encouraging locals against drinking tap water following a chemical spill in nearby Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
The Philadelphia Water Department said it is monitoring the release of a latex product along a Delaware River tributary in Bristol Township late on Friday. Authorities sent out a public safety alert on Sunday afternoon saying the city of Philadelphia <a href="https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/philly-officials-residents-may-not-wish-to-drink-or-cook-with-tap-water-following-bucks-county-chemical-spill/3532493/?_osource=SocialFlowTwt_PHBrand">recommends</a> bottled drinking water from 2 p.m. until further notice.
As of late Sunday morning, local authorities said the contaminants had not been found in the water system and offered assurances that they have no concern over skin exposure or fire hazard.
&#8220;Bathing and washing dishes do not present a concern. Likewise, we have no concern over inhaling fumes at the levels we are evaluating,&#8221; <a href="https://water.phila.gov/drops/phila-water-dept-monitoring-spill-at-bucks-county-facility/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said Michael Carroll</a>, deputy managing director for Philadelphia&#8217;s Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability.
Still, officials are encouraging the use of bottled water as a precaution.
&#8220;Because we cannot be 100 percent sure that there won’t be traces of these chemicals in the tap water throughout the afternoon, we want the public to be aware so that people can consider switching to bottled water to further minimize any risk,&#8221; Carroll said. &#8220;Therefore, we are notifying the public in the customer service area that they may wish not to drink or cook with tap water.&#8221;
Within a couple of hours, posts to social media showed store shelves wiped clean of bottled water.
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NO bottles of water left right now at Giant, after <a href="https://twitter.com/PhiladelphiaGov?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PhiladelphiaGov</a> said it is recommending residents use bottled water for drinking or cooking until further notice. More than 8,000 gallons of hazardous material spilled in a Bucks County creek near the Delaware River <a href="https://twitter.com/6abc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@6abc</a> <a href="https://t.co/uGiTM4xN4J">pic.twitter.com/uGiTM4xN4J</a>
&mdash; Christie Ileto (@Christie_Ileto) <a href="https://twitter.com/Christie_Ileto/status/1640054433785446400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Officials blame a pipe rupture at a chemical plant, Trinseo PLC, for the release of an estimated 8,100 to 12,000 gallons of latex finishing material, a water-soluble acrylic polymer solution, into Otter Creek, which runs into the Delaware River, <a href="https://6abc.com/coast-guard-us-environmental-protection-agency-pennsylvania-department-of-fish-and-boat-commission/13014583/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to ABC affiliate WPVI</a>.
The report said crews are now working to clean up the spill and, so far, there are no indications of affected wildlife as there were following last month&#8217;s hazardous materials release with the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cruz-ridicules-buttigieg-at-train-derailment-hearing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Norfolk Southern train derailment</a> in East Palestine, Ohio, not far from Pennsylvania&#8217;s western border.
&#8220;We are working with the responsible party and local and federal agencies to ensure a safe response effort,&#8221; said Capt. Jonathan Theel, the commander of Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/officials-urge-philadelphians-not-to-drink-tap-water/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per CBS News</a>. &#8220;We are also working with our State counterparts in Pennsylvania.&#8221;
The Philadelphia Water Department shared a link to a map showing the eastern part of the city of nearly 1.6 million people next to the Delaware River is <a href="https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/2c870b2f75684e57a0efde493444f7db" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;potentially impacted&#8221;</a> by chemical spill while the eastern portion is shown as not impacted.

Daily Life in Philadelphia, PA

Philly Residents Urged Not To Drink Tap Water After Chemical Spill

Environment

Pennsylvania

Philadelphia

U.S.

Mankind’s hope for survival depends on the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/united-nations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">United Nations</a>’ efforts to find new ways to manage the world’s water supply, according to U.N. Secretary-General <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/world-leaders-gather-to-condemn-fossil-fuel-addiction-as-planet-faces-energy-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Antonio Guterres</a>. 
Guterres joined leaders from developing countries at a conference on global water resources earlier this week, warning nations about water shortages and sanitation and advocating for &#8220;a new course&#8221; of action. 
“All of humanity’s hopes for the future depend, in some way, on charting a new course to sustainably manage and conserve water,” Guterres said in his final remarks for the conference on Friday, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/united-nation-world-water-c69420149134954e6648531425cc0637" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Associated Press. The U.N. chief added that water “needs to be at the center of the global political agenda.”
Prior to the conference, Guterres <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/conferences/water2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remarked</a> that this year’s gathering, which was hosted by Tajikistan and the Netherlands, “must result in a bold Water Action Agenda that gives our world&#8217;s lifeblood the commitment it deserves.”
The U.N. is pushing for universal access to clean drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene by 2030, a goal it calls “SDG6.” The U.N. blames climate change and underinvestment in water for the water problems faced by poorer countries. 
To push for more control of the world’s water systems, SDG6 <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation/#:~:text=Goal%206%3A%20Ensure%20access%20to,in%202030%20unless%20progress%20quadruples.">outlines</a> six targets for the world to hit by 2030, the last of which seeks to “expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities and programs, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies.” 
A <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsGrGx5rywk&amp;t=12s">video</a> on the U.N.’s 2023 Water Conference website says that “water can be the driver for a green economy, water is essential for food security, water is fundamental to climate resilience, and water can be the dealmaker for peace.” 
“Humanity’s demand for water is growing,” the video continues. “Pressure on water resources is increasing due to overuse, pollution, and climate change. On average, the world needs to work 4x faster to achieve SDG6 by 2030. We can and must do more. We must unite for water.” 
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The 2023 U.N. water conference was a huge success, <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/03/1135022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Li Junhua, who formerly worked in China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry and is now the U.N.’s under-secretary-general for Economic and Social Affairs.
“At the 2023 UN Water Conference, a determined global community came together to make a difference not only for the future of water but for the future of the world,” Li said.

Antonio Guterres

U.N. Chief Says Humanity’s Survival Depends On ‘Charting New Course’ To Control One Vital Resource

U.N. Chief Says Humanity's Survival Depends On 'Charting New Course' To Control The World's Water

Climate Change

United Nations

World

Federal officials said an adult in Florida died last month from contracting a rare brain-eating amoeba after rinsing their sinuses with unboiled tap water, marking the case as the first death of its kind in the United States this year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told<a href="https://www.fox4now.com/charlotte-county/is-charlotte-countys-tap-water-safe-following-report-of-amoeba-infection"> local media</a> that the patient died on February 20 from an extremely rare disease caused by Naegleria fowleri, which infects people when water containing the amoeba enters the body through the nose.
&#8220;The adult patient reportedly performed nasal rinsing daily with unboiled tap water, which is thought to be the source of the infection,&#8221; a spokesperson from the CDC said.
CDC officials did not disclose the identity of the deceased.
In a <a href="https://charlotte.floridahealth.gov/newsroom/2023/02/02-23-2023PressReleaseNaegleriaFowleri.html">February 23 news release</a>, Florida Department of Health officials confirmed that Charlotte County had recently documented one case of someone infected with Naegleria fowleri &#8220;possibly as a result of sinus rinse practices utilizing tap water.&#8221;
&#8220;DOH-Charlotte, as part of a multi-agency response, is continuing to investigate how this infection occurred and is working with the local public utilities to identify any potential links and make any necessary corrective actions,&#8221; Meranda Pitt, a spokesperson for the department, said in the statement.
Pitt emphasized residents cannot get infected with the amoeba by drinking tap water.
Eric Milbrandt, director of the marine laboratory at the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, told local media the amoeba could only affect people through the nose, not by ingesting it.
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&#8220;A proper, municipal treatment plant would have filtration, chlorination, and testing,&#8221; Milbrandt said. &#8220;So your drinking water should be fine.&#8221;
Joe Pepe, health officer for Charlotte County, told local media the patient was a male who lived in two separate houses in the area but would not disclose any further specifics about the case.
&#8220;What we&#8217;re working on right now is a good investigation so that we can identify a point source, but we saw an opportunity to lean forward and being responsible and just kind of helping educate the community on this piece of it at the very least,&#8221; Pepe said.
According to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/naegleria/general.html">CDC</a>, the amoeba typically thrives in warm freshwater like lakes, rivers, and hot springs around the world.
If water containing the amoeba goes up the nose, the amoeba can enter the brain and cause a devastating infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis, officials said.
&#8220;In very rare instances, Naegleria fowleri infections might also occur when contaminated water from other sources (such as inadequately chlorinated swimming pool water or contaminated tap water) enters the nose,&#8221; the spokesperson added. &#8220;People who irrigate, flush, or rinse their sinuses should use distilled water or tap water that has been boiled and cooled.&#8221;
Over the past decade, CDC officials have reported 29 cases in the U.S., with up to 5 cases reported annually, most occurring in southern-tier states during the summer.
The latest case, however, marks the first-ever reported in winter months in the United States.

Amebic meningoencephalitis due to Naegleria fowleri

Brain-Eating Amoeba From Unboiled Tap Water Kills Florida Man

Florida

Regional <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/food" target="_blank" rel="noopener">supermarket</a> chain Giant Eagle pulled bottled <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/drinking-water" target="_blank" rel="noopener">water</a> sourced from a facility near East Palestine, Ohio, the location of a <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/ohio-train-disaster" target="_blank" rel="noopener">train derailment</a> and subsequent <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/chemicals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">chemical</a> fallout.
Local and state authorities previously evacuated all residents within one mile of the February 3 derailment and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/evacuation-ordered-ohio-governor-warns-major-explosion-could-send-shrapnel-a-mile-from-derailed-train" target="_blank" rel="noopener">started</a> a controlled burn of industrial chemicals on the Norfolk Southern train to decrease the risk of an explosion, which could have sent shrapnel throughout the small town. Vinyl chloride, a carcinogenic compound, was emitted from five train cars in the form of massive plumes of dark smoke visible throughout eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania.
Giant Eagle, which is based in Pittsburgh and has stores throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana, and Maryland, said that the company sources water for large containers from a factory in Salineville, Ohio, about 25 miles southwest of the train derailment.
“Out of an abundance of caution,” the company said in a <a href="https://www.wkbn.com/news/local-news/east-palestine-train-derailment/giant-eagle-removes-some-bottled-water-after-train-derailment/?ipid=promo-link-block1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> provided to WKBN, “Giant Eagle has made the decision to remove all gallon-size-or-greater Giant Eagle brand spring water product sourced from the Salineville facility from our store shelves until further notice while we continue to evaluate ongoing testing and potential impacts to the spring source.”
The announcement comes after utilities in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky shuttered Ohio River water intake valves early Sunday morning over <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cincinnati-and-northern-kentucky-shut-down-water-intakes-after-train-derailment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">concerns</a> about contamination from materials in the train crash. Beyond the release of vinyl chloride, Norfolk Southern <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/company-responsible-for-ohio-train-derailment-issues-list-of-cancer-causing-substances-released" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned</a> the EPA that a number of other volatile chemicals, including ethylene glycol monobutyl ether and ethylhexyl acrylate, were present at the derailment site. The EPA published the full list of substances present at the site only after residents were told they could return to their homes.
Regular tests of the Salineville spring by a third party laboratory have not found evidence that the source was contaminated by the incident. “Giant Eagle has been in daily contact with representatives from the facility and has learned that the water used in these products comes from a protected spring located at a higher elevation than East Palestine and is not near ground water sources directly impacted by the incident,” the statement continued.
One spokesperson for the company <a href="https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/02/22/how-identify-if-you-have-giant-eagle-brand-water-spring-columbiana-county-made-after-train-derailment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> WOIO that customers can receive compensation for gallon-size or larger containers with a best-by date after February 3, 2025. “We understand that some guests may prefer to return previously purchased gallon-size Giant Eagle spring water,” the spokesperson added. “Interested guests are invited to bring in either the product itself or a qualifying receipt to their local Giant Eagle, Market District or GetGo location to receive a refund on the purchased product.”
State and federal officials have said extensive air and water quality tests have not yet raised evidence of contamination. A team of Daily Wire journalists and producers who visited East Palestine last week nevertheless <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/my-eyes-sting-and-my-head-is-throbbing-daily-wire-team-details-experiences-at-ground-zero-of-ohio-train-crash" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> a lingering smell in the air, an oily chemical sheen in local creeks and rivers, and symptoms such as sore throats and headaches garnered merely by spending an extended period of time in the small community. Residents and first responders have meanwhile <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/it-was-like-the-devil-was-dancing-and-having-a-party-east-palestine-resident-describes-witnessing-train-derailment-turned-chemical-catastrophe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shared</a> worries about health symptoms such as coughing, diarrhea, and nausea, as well as deaths among wildlife and livestock.
The EPA ordered Norfolk Southern last week to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/epa-orders-norfolk-southern-to-handle-all-ohio-train-derailment-cleanup-pay-triple-if-they-cut-corners" target="_blank" rel="noopener">manage</a> the cleanup of the toxic chemical spill. The agency also threatened to “immediately step in, conduct the necessary work, and then seek to compel Norfolk Southern to pay triple the cost” if the company fails to adequately complete enumerated cleanup actions.

Bottling plant

Prominent Grocery Store Chain Pulls Water Bottles Sourced Near East Palestine Train Disaster

Giant Eagle Pulls Water Bottles Sourced Near East Palestine

Business

Disasters

Ohio Train Disaster

Utilities in Cincinnati and Northern <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kentucky" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kentucky</a> shut Ohio River water intake valves early Sunday morning over concerns about contamination by hazardous materials from a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ohio-train-disaster" target="_blank" rel="noopener">train that derailed</a> in East Palestine, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ohio" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ohio</a>.
The two utilities, Greater Cincinnati Water Works (GCWW) and Northern Kentucky Water District (NKWD), said they are taking precautions as testing found at least low levels of chemicals from the toxic spill in some places at intakes along the waterway amid reports of <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/east-palestine-ohio-train-derailment-dead-fish-vinyl-chloride-hazardous-materials-affecting-pets-wildlife/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fish dying en masse</a> in local waterways and East Palestine residents reporting ailments such as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/02/16/ohio-train-derailment-response-toxic-contamination/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">headaches and rashes</a>.
After the Norfolk Southern freight train derailment on February 3, crews executed what authorities said was a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/j-d-vance-calls-for-answers-after-ohio-train-derailment-notes-alarming-reports-he-received" target="_blank" rel="noopener">controlled burn of hazardous chemicals</a> from cars that were in danger of exploding, prompting temporary evacuations and a large plume of smoke over the small town on the Pennsylvania border.
&#8220;Emergency responders were able to quickly respond and contain most of the chemicals,&#8221; NKWD <a href="https://v5z61e.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Press-Release-East-Palestine-OH-Train-Derailment-Intake-Closed_02-19-23.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said in a press release</a>. NKWD said one of the chemicals, butyl acrylate, &#8220;was detected at low levels in the Ohio River far upstream of our water supply intakes.&#8221;
Butyl acrylate &#8220;is a clear liquid with a sweet odor used in arts and crafts, adhesives, flooring, sinks, bathtubs, to name just a few of the uses of the chemical,&#8221; NKWD said.
<a href="https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/water/news/ohio-river-test-results-show-no-contaminants/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GCWW said</a> low levels of butyl acrylate were believed to have &#8220;seeped&#8221; into the Ohio River through a small creek about 300 miles north of Cincinnati.
By Sunday afternoon, <a href="https://twitter.com/danielledindak/status/1627412460046061568" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GCWW reported</a> “2-Ethyl-1-hexanol was detected. This compound is commonly used in industrial applications including for flavorings and fragrances.”
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BREAKING: Greater Cincinnati Water Works is keeping its intake CLOSED after reportedly detecting a compound upstream.
“2-Ethyl-1-hexanol was detected. This compound is commonly used in industrial applications including for flavorings and fragrances.” 
FULL RELEASE⬇️ <a href="https://twitter.com/WLWT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WLWT</a> <a href="https://t.co/b0U3Qqu2sA">pic.twitter.com/b0U3Qqu2sA</a>
&mdash; Danielle Dindak (@danielledindak) <a href="https://twitter.com/danielledindak/status/1627412460046061568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 19, 2023</a></blockquote>
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NKWD and GCWW, each of which reportedly serve <a href="https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/local/2023/02/19/local-ohio-river-supply-shut-after-east-palestine-trail-derailment/69920711007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hundreds of thousands of customers</a>, said they will continue testing in coordination with the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission and assured the public they have treatment processes in place. The utilities said they will rely on reserves until regulators are certain water from the Ohio River is safe.
Norfolk Southern <a href="http://www.nscorp.com/content/nscorp/en/service-alerts/derailment-in-east-palestine--oh.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says it is working with</a> local, state, and federal leaders and the community affected by the derailment in East Palestine. That hasn&#8217;t stopped a number of <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/norfolk-southern-stock-railorad-lawsuits-train-derailment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lawsuits to accumulate</a> as outrage grows, spurred in part by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/this-is-disgusting-j-d-vance-scrapes-creek-bed-with-stick-after-train-crash-oily-substance-emerges-in-viral-video" target="_blank" rel="noopener">videos of showing</a> an oily sheen from chemicals in local waterways.
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Visited a local creek in East Palestine today. These waterways are still very polluted. It’s time for Norfolk Southern to finish the cleanup. Check this video out: <a href="https://t.co/4lsHBmrMJj">pic.twitter.com/4lsHBmrMJj</a>
&mdash; J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) <a href="https://twitter.com/JDVance1/status/1626305927207854089?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 16, 2023</a></blockquote>
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After the fire went out on February 8, the Environment Protection Agency <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/statement-regional-administrator-debra-shore-east-palestine-train-derailment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said on Tuesday its air monitoring</a> had &#8220;not detected any levels of health concern in the community that are attributed to the train derailment.&#8221;
Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine&#8217;s office <a href="https://governor.ohio.gov/media/news-and-media/East-Palestine-Update-2-17-23-2-15-pm-02172023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said Friday</a> testing results from East Palestine’s municipal water source determined that municipal drinking water is safe to drink, but urged locals who get their water from private wells to use bottled water until their water is tested.
Also on Friday, DeWine released a joint statement with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Regional Administrator Thomas Sivak, announcing FEMA aid would be on the way after the Biden administration indicated the train derailment <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-rejects-federal-disaster-assistance-for-ohio-town-impacted-by-toxic-train-derailment-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">did not qualify</a> for federal disaster aid.
&#8220;FEMA and the State of Ohio have been in constant contact regarding emergency operations in East Palestine,&#8221; the <a href="https://twitter.com/GovMikeDeWine/status/1626736542524796929" target="_blank" rel="noopener">joint statement said</a>. &#8220;U.S. EPA and Ohio EPA have been working together since day one. Tomorrow, FEMA will supplement federal efforts by deploying a Senior Response Official along with a Regional Incident Management Assistance Team (IMAT) to support ongoing operations, including incident coordination and ongoing assessments of potential long-term recovery needs.&#8221;

Ohio train derailment

Cincinnati And Northern Kentucky Shut Down Water Intakes After Train Derailment

Cincinnati

East Palestine

Kentucky

Ohio

A decades-long drought and population growth has left the Colorado River over-leveraged and in dire need of a new management plan before the water runs out for millions of Americans.
 Negotiations between seven states to reapportion the river’s water have been deadlocked for months, and the federal government is threatening to break the deadlock with its own management plan — whether the states like it or not.
The Department of the Interior has given Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming a deadline to reach an agreement twice, and each time the states blew past it without reaching consensus.
The federal government’s request is unprecedented in U.S. history. The Colorado River supplies water for roughly 40 million Americans. The Bureau of Reclamation has asked the Basin states to cut water usage by about one-third.
The latest deadline passed on Wednesday with six of the seven states agreeing on a plan to cut water usage, with only California dissenting. The Golden State put forward its own plan emphasizing its priority rights over the Colorado River that have been a part of the legal framework governing the basin for a century.
The lack of consensus increases the chance that the Bureau of Reclamation will devise its own plan and force the basin states to follow it whether they like it or not. The bureau needs a plan soon in order to model the water level of the river and its reservoirs and complete an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the basin. The EIS will inform the Department of the Interior’s long-term water management strategy.
The Colorado River has been governed under the same rough legal framework of water apportionment for the past 100 years, though it has been updated as new infrastructure has been added and court cases have been settled. The body of law that governs the basin is collectively known as “<a href="https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g1000/lawofrvr.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Law of the River</a>.”
The cornerstone of that legal framework was set in 1922 in an agreement called the Colorado River Compact. The agreement divided the basin into upper and lower halves and guaranteed each 7.5 million acre-feet of water from the river. The Mexican Water Treaty of 1944 allotted 1.5 million acre-feet of the Colorado River to Mexico. One acre-foot is about the amount of water two or three households use in a year.
The upper basin, where the Colorado River originates, consists of parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming and is above the river’s two reservoirs: Lake Powell, behind Glen Canyon Dam, and Lake Mead, behind Hoover Dam. The lower basin states – Arizona, California, and Nevada – are located roughly below the reservoirs and can pull from them, whereas the upper basin must rely on the river’s natural flow.
<div id="attachment_497819" style="width: 569px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-497819" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-497819" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Colo-River-Basin-states-3-559x576.webp" alt="" width="559" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/02/Colo-River-Basin-states-3-559x576.webp 559w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/02/Colo-River-Basin-states-3-291x300.webp 291w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/02/Colo-River-Basin-states-3-768x791.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/02/Colo-River-Basin-states-3.webp 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 559px) 100vw, 559px" />Colorado Foundation for Water Education</div>
The 1922 agreement that set out the apportionment for the upper and lower basins may always have been too optimistic. The compact <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2022/07/11/running-dry-in-the-american-west/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">estimated</a> the Colorado River’s annual flows at 17 million acre-feet. In the century since, the river has averaged about 12 million acre-feet annually. The compact, we now know, was drawn up during the river’s wettest season in the past 500 years, according to Shawn Regan, vice president of research at the Property and Environment Research Center.
In addition to poor planning and population growth, the river is under stress from an extended drought that has beat down on the American West for over two decades. A study <a href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-science-west-megadrought-f02449c2db4f0ebeb1557bb39504c62d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> last year suggests that the West is the driest it’s been in 1,200 years.
“In the Colorado River Basin, the period from 2000 through 2021 has been the driest 22-year period recorded in more than 100 years of record-keeping,” Tanya Trujillo, an experienced water lawyer and Interior’s assistant secretary for Water and Science, <a href="https://www.doi.gov/ocl/colorado-river-drought-conditions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Congress in 2021. “The reservoir system was 95 percent full in 2000, but as of September 28th, Colorado River system reservoirs sit at just 39 percent, the lowest levels since they began to fill.”
The water level has continued to drop since Trujillo’s testimony. The strain is evident in the Colorado River basin’s two major reservoirs. Lakes Powell and Mead are both at all-time lows. Lake Mead, in particular, has made a number of ghastly headlines over the past year as its water level has dropped, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sixth-set-of-skeletal-remains-found-in-lake-mead" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealing</a> sunken ships and bodies weighted and sunk to its lake bed.
Officials across the seven states fear what could happen as each reservoir approaches two low-water <a href="https://www.nevadacurrent.com/2022/05/16/what-is-dead-pool-a-water-expert-explains/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">benchmarks</a>, each of which would have severe consequences.
The first and highest benchmark is known as the minimum power pool elevation: the level at which the lakes need to sit in order for their dams to produce hydropower.
The Glen Canyon and Hoover dams produce power for millions of Americans. Should that power be cut off, the worst effects could be mitigated by siphoning power from other parts of the U.S. electrical grid.
The scenario officials are seeking to avoid at all costs, which would likely have catastrophic effects, takes place at the lower benchmark, a condition known as “dead pool.” If the reservoirs reach dead pool status, no more water can flow downriver from the lakes. The effects would be disastrous for cities such as Los Angeles, which <a href="https://viterbi.usc.edu/water/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gets</a> half its water from the Colorado River, and Las Vegas, which <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/31/us/california-water-proposal-colorado-river-climate/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gets</a> 90% of its water from the Colorado.
Despite the urgency, officials across the seven states have not been able to agree on a way to collectively cut down water usage from the Colorado by two to four million acre-feet as the Interior Department has requested. The brunt of the responsibility to cut has fallen on the lower basin states. The upper basin states are only <a href="https://www.coloradoriverdistrict.org/imbalances-in-the-colorado-river-basin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pulling</a> about half their legal allotment of water because the drought has crippled the river upstream.
The lower basin states cannot agree on how to implement the cuts. The two sides on Wednesday clashed to a large extent on California’s insistence that priority water rights, a feature of the current legal framework that give priority to claims to the Colorado River’s water made earlier, still apply.
“[D]espite big disagreements about how to approach this, we have unanimity among all seven states that very deep cuts in Lower Basin water use are needed,” University of New Mexico professor and Colorado River expert John Fleck <a href="https://www.inkstain.net/2023/02/deadpool-diaries-the-numbers-in-the-states-two-proposals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> Wednesday. The two sides both presented plans based on cuts that scale up as the water level in Lake Mead falls.
“The difference is in timing,” Fleck wrote. “California’s cuts don’t kick in until later – essentially a gamble on good hydrology once again helping us avoid conflict by letting us use more water in the short term.”
Officials in Arizona, which has the second-largest water usage in the lower basin behind California, recognized California’s legal claim, but said the approach simply is not realistic.
“If you want to model cutting off most or all of the water supply of 27 million Americans, you can go through the exercise but implementing that on the ground would have the direst consequence for almost 10% of the country,” Southern Nevada Water Authority general manager John Enstminger told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/31/us/california-water-proposal-colorado-river-climate/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a>.

Lake Mead near Hoover Dam

Over 40 Million People Rely On Water From The Colorado River. It’s Dangerously Close To Drying Up.

Arizona

California

Colorado

Department of the Interior

drought

Lake Mead

New Mexico

Readers Pass

The already embattled city of Jackson, Mississippi issued another boil water notice to residents as a dangerous winter storm swept across the country this week.
In a public announcement on Christmas Day, city officials in Jackson urged residents to boil city water because of low water pressure in the city&#8217;s pipes. Officials attributed the pressure losses to breaks in water lines caused by frigid temperatures from a winter storm that blanketed 37 U.S. states between Wednesday and Sunday. Jackson&#8217;s water system has been the center of attention this year after mismanagement produced multiple water crises.
&#8220;Due to the loss of system pressure, the City of Jackson Water/Sewer Utilities Division has issued a precautionary boil water advisory until further notice for ALL SURFACE WATER CONNECTIONS,&#8221; the city said in a <a href="https://www.jacksonms.gov/citywide-boil-water-advisory/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> Sunday. &#8220;This advisory includes surface water connections in Byram and Hinds County. The system has lost pressure due to breaks in the distribution system that have not been identified. Some areas may be experiencing little to no water pressure. The O.B. Curtis and J.H. Fewell Water Treatment Plants will continue to work to maximize production to restore pressure to as much of the system as possible.&#8221;
“Please check your businesses and churches for leaks and broken pipes, as these add up tremendously and only worsen the problem,” the city said in a separate statement, via the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-jackson-climate-and-environment-fece87363c92bd5e14e085d0065b1dae" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Associated Press</a>. “We understand the timing is terrible.”
Temperatures in Jackson dropped into the teens and 20s this week. According to <a href="https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/b16e2af7d0ba76bdfe3bebe958f7cf77965d79fa2e58bc0956a47be2d72a4c78" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The WeatherChannel</a>, the low temperature on Thursday night was 11 degrees. Temperatures on Friday ranged from a high of just 23 to a low of 15. On Saturday, the high reached just 33, with a low of 17. The rapid freeze was part of a &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/once-in-a-generation-winter-storm-expected-to-affect-most-of-u-s-midwest-likely-to-be-hardest-hit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">once in a generation</a>&#8221; winter storm that swept most of the country, from the mountain West to the Great Lakes and the Midwest, to Appalachia, and up through New England, this week.
The city reported fluctuating water pressure all weekend. According to AP, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mississippi-jackson-climate-and-environment-ff0010d637a33679e2de5cb8bd94f9c0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">production slowed</a> at one of the water treatment plants in the city because of water line leaks and breaks. Some neighborhoods said they had little or no water pressure on Christmas Eve, the outlet reported.
The latest failure comes months after the water system in Jackson <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mississippi-water-crisis-drags-into-fifth-day" target="_blank" rel="noopener">failed</a> because of flooding of the Pearl River in August. Multiple water pumps at the O.B. Curtis Water Treatment Plant failed after severe storms caused the Pearl River to flood, prompting low water pressure and a risk of bacterial infection, a press release from the Mississippi Department of Health explained at the time.
Jackson’s water supply has faced multiple interruptions over the past several decades. Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a notice of noncompliance to city leadership for not “repairing and maintaining equipment necessary to reliably produce drinking water.”
Residents of Jackson filed a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jackson-mississippi-residents-file-lawsuit-against-city-over-water-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">class-action suit</a> against the city in September, arguing that the August failure of the water system was the result of decades of mismanagement and neglect by city officials and engineers. The water system failure led to residents lacking water to drink or cook with, as well as do household cleaning and laundry, or even use the toilet, the suit alleged. The residents further claimed that the remaining water supply was tainted, and did not meet up to federal standards.
Ben Zeisloft contributed to this report.

Jackson water crisis

Jackson, Mississippi Issues Christmas Boil Order After Water Lines Break In Freezing Temperatures

Jackson, Mississippi Issues Another Boil Order After Water Lines Break In Freezing Temperatures

Christmas

Mississippi

Severe Weather

Residents in Jackson, Mississippi, filed a class action lawsuit against the city, its leaders, and engineering companies over ongoing problems related to the community&#8217;s water crisis.
The city&#8217;s already problematic water pressure system was overwhelmed by recent Pearl River flooding that extended a water boil notice and emergency declaration by Mississippi&#8217;s governor for the city of more than 150,000 people.
&#8220;The City of Jackson&#8217;s water supply has been neglected for decades, culminating in its complete shutdown in August 2022, leaving over 150,000 residents, 82.5% of whom are Black and over 24% are living in poverty, without access to running water,&#8221; the lawsuit <a href="https://www.lieffcabraser.com/pdf/Jackson_Complaint_Filed.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a>.
&#8220;These residents lack more than just drinking water, or water for making powdered baby formula, cooking, showering, or laundry,&#8221; it continued. &#8220;During the long period where the city pipes had no water pressure &#8230; residents of Jackson could not flush their toilets for days at a time.&#8221;
The lawsuit also alleges that city residents were poisoned by contaminants in its drinking water for an extended period of time. Claims also include that the city&#8217;s water quality did not meet federal requirements.
The residents further argued in the lawsuit that the problem had been occurring for decades and was preventable ahead of the recent flooding.
&#8220;This public health crisis, decades in the making, was wholly foreseeable by Defendants’ actions and has left Jackson residents in an untenable position — without access to clean, safe water in 2022 in a major United States city,&#8221; it added.
Democratic Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, former Democratic Mayor Tony Yarber, Trilogy Engineering Services LLC, Siemens Corporation, and other city officials were named in the legal matter.
Government leaders in Jackson, Mississippi, declared a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/water-emergency-in-mississippi-as-pump-shuts-down" target="_blank" rel="noopener">water system emergency</a> in August after a major pump at a water treatment facility was damaged.
The hindered water treatment facility left the city without reliable running water for fighting fires and flushing toilets, according to Republican Governor Tate Reeves, as the area dealt with the aftermath of recent flooding across the central region of the state.
“The O.B. Curtis plant is not operating anywhere near full capacity,” Reeves <a href="https://mississippitoday.org/2022/08/29/jackson-water-system-fails-emergency/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> during an evening press conference, reported Mississippi Today. “We may find out tomorrow it’s not operating at all. We’ll have better visibility on that when we get in there tomorrow.”
The governor’s announcement came a week after Jackson&#8217;s mayor <a href="https://www.wjtv.com/mississippi-flooding/jackson-mayor-declares-water-system-emergency/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared</a> a water emergency following the Pearl River flooding last week, with the city issuing a water boil notice at the end of July.
Deanne Criswell, the Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mississippi-gov-open-to-privatizing-water-supply-following-states-water-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> last month that the date when residents could access drinkable water was unknown. He also noted that distributing bottled water to impacted residents remained the agency’s primary focus with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers.
Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency also issued a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mississippi-gov-open-to-privatizing-water-supply-following-states-water-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">notice of noncompliance</a> to city leadership for not “repairing and maintaining equipment necessary to reliably produce drinking water.”

Jackson, Mississippi Residents File Lawsuit Against City Over Water Crisis

Lawsuit

Natural Disaster

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/california" target="_blank" rel="noopener">California</a> became the first state in the world to mandate microplastics testing in sources of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/drinking-water" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drinking water</a>.
“We’ve known about the issue for decades. The public has been asking for governments to do something about it for a good 10 or 15 years,” Scott Coffin of the state water resources control board <a href="https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/09/california-microplastics-testing-drinking-water-sources/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
The California Water Resources Control Board unanimously greenlit policy guidelines to test water sources for the plastic fragments over a four-year span. The policy was approved this week, and means that up to 30 of California’s major water providers will be mandated to begin testing their water each quarter for two years, starting in the fall of next year.
“There’s no other place in the world — literally in the world — that has standardized methods for how you do this or has a monitoring program to look at drinking water,” Steve Weisberg, executive director of the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, said. “California is really getting out there and being first.”
Microplastics have been discovered all over the world. The tiny pieces of plastic are found in Antarctica, and human placentas, as well as in rain in North America. They typically end up in water from synthetic clothing that casts off fibers when washed. They also come from plastic being crushed into small bits, and tires that wear down on roads. It’s unknown at what level the plastics are safe for humans, but research has shown they have a negative impact on mammals.
It still hasn’t been finalized which groups will need to start testing their water yet, but they were chosen due to their size and the amount they already treat their water, according to CalMatters.
The new rules are the result of a <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB1422">law</a> adopted in 2018 that said the state board needed to create a standard method to be utilized in microplastics testing for drinking water, and needed to make rules for the water to be tested and results reported for four years.
The plan includes timing for the testing practice. As part of the new rules, water systems will need to include information about microplastics findings in their yearly Consumer Confidence Reports. The testing could cost them between $1,000 to $2,000 per sample.
The agencies have asked the state for help to pay for the testing, saying they “anticipate that the cost of compliance with this regulation would require significant investment.”
“The use of new methods would require a demonstration study and place the burden of cost and efforts to conduct the study onto the public water systems,” the Association of California Water Agencies and California Water Association wrote in a joint letter to the board last year. “The human health effects from microplastics is a statewide issue, and therefore justifies use of state funds to supplement the cost born by public water agencies to participate in this process.”

348549CA-C340-409C-B9AD-B5F2B6F39EBA_1_105_c

California Approves First-Of-Its-Kind Microplastics Testing In Drinking Water

California Water Resources Control Board Approves First Of Its Kind Microplastics Testing In Drinking Water

Environmentalism

Gavin Newsom

Mississippi Governor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tate-reeves" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tate Reeves</a> (R) <a href="https://www.facebook.com/tatereeves/videos/594400035726241">said</a> Monday he is open to privatizing the water system for the City of Jackson following multiple water pumps failing last week after severe storms caused the Pearl River to flood, which increased the risk of bacterial contamination.
&#8220;Privatization is on the table,&#8221; Reeves said. &#8220;Having a commission that oversees failed water systems as they have in many states is on the table — I&#8217;m open to ideas.&#8221;
Reeves’ comments come after officials announced that improvements have occurred since the governor said the prior week that the state would take &#8220;historic and unprecedented&#8221; steps to intervene in the city&#8217;s water supply after reaching crisis levels.
&#8220;Not only were there issues with the quality of the water, but with the quantity of the water,&#8221; Reeves said. &#8220;The city could not produce enough running water for Jacksonians.&#8221;
Flooding in Jackson has left approximately 150,000 residents without clean water to drink.
However, health officials informed the governor that the O.B. Curtis Water Treatment Plant had begun pumping out cleaner water than the city had seen in a &#8220;very, very long time.&#8221; Reeves added that he hoped authorities could measure potential clean water and remove the “boil water” notice within days.
The city has been under the “boil water” notice since July 29, 2022.
&#8220;We know that it is always possible that there will be more severe challenges,&#8221; Reeves said. &#8220;This water system broke over several years, and it would be inaccurate to claim it is totally solved in the matter of less than a week.&#8221;
Reeves reminded residents to prepare for &#8220;more bad days in the future,&#8221; but said that officials have reached a place where Jackson residents could trust the water &#8220;will come out of the faucet, toilets can be flushed, and fires can be put out.&#8221;
The Hill <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/3631062-mississippi-gov-on-jackson-water-crisis-privatization-is-on-the-table/">reports</a> that Deanne Criswell, the Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, said Sunday that the date when residents could access drinkable water remains unknown.
Criswell further noted that distributing bottled water to impacted residents remains the agency&#8217;s primary focus with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers.
Jackson&#8217;s water supply has faced multiple interruptions over the past several decades. Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a notice of noncompliance to city leadership for not &#8220;repairing and maintaining equipment necessary to reliably produce drinking water.&#8221;
The governor accused city officials of failing to notify federal and state governments of a plan to fix the water system&#8217;s issues and claimed the water plant staff abandoned the post where the failure happened.
Axios <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/09/06/jackson-mississippi-water-crisis-lumumba?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=editorial">reports</a> that Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba responded to Governor Tate Reeves&#8217; criticism on Tuesday, saying that the city is currently working to stabilize the plant&#8217;s low water pressure.
Lumumba had also shared documents requesting funding to improve the water treatment plant with a list of critical repairs needed.
 Ben Zeisloft contributed to this report.

Mississippi Votes To Remove Confederate Symbols From State Flag

Mississippi Gov. Open To Privatizing Water Supply Following State’s Water Crisis

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves Open To Privatizing Water Supply Following State's Water Crisis

Infrastructure

Tate Reeves

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