Poll of the Day > White House Thought Burying a Report About Poison Drinking Water Was Great Idea

(+) Yeah! (+)

Nothing about this is normal or acceptable

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/05/white-house-buries-contaminated-drinking-water-study
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Imagine, if you will, that you are working for the federal government, and a report from the Department of Health and Human Services comes across your desk revealing that chemicals used by big business and the military, which have seeped into water supplies from New York to Michigan to West Virginia, endanger human health at much lower levels than the E.P.A had previously deemed safe.

Either there's a typo here, or the whole thing is being badly overblown.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Imagine, if you will, that you are working for the federal government, and a report from the Department of Health and Human Services comes across your desk revealing that chemicals used by big business and the military, which have seeped into water supplies from New York to Michigan to West Virginia, endanger human health at much lower levels than the E.P.A had previously deemed safe.

Either there's a typo here, or the whole thing is being badly overblown.

There's no typo. The E.P.A. previously deemed a chemical safe at certain concentrations. Studies showed that it's very harmful at far lower levels than what the E.P.A. has deemed safe. The now-gutted E.P.A. can do nothing. It is being covered up. There are millions of people drinking carcinogenic water and the White House is keeping hush on the matter
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Every municipal and county water department is compelled to release an annual "Quality Report". It's not the whitehouse's responsibility to make sure you read the damn thing.

https://www.epa.gov/ccr

Questionmarktarius posted...

Every municipal and county water department is compelled to release an annual "Quality Report". It's not the whitehouse's responsibility to make sure you read the damn thing.

https://www.epa.gov/ccr

Water reports are one thing. This is burying the study that would have the potential to set the water quality standards. This is serious and will kill people to bury and ignore these findings. And it's done by this current administration, it is their responsibility.
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Well if you continuously drink tap water and also expect the same lifespan as those who dont, is it really fair to place the blame on anyone but yourself?
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DrYuya posted...

Well if you continuously drink tap water and also expect the same lifespan as those who dont, is it really fair to place the blame on anyone but yourself?

What?

This isn't limited to tap water. This is a chemical in so many products that you're likely exposed to it all the time. Shampoo. Nonstick cookware. Sunscreen. It's in you.
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maybe i can become a poison person like magellan from one piece, or coco from toriko
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Report published in 2016:
https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/drinking-water-health-advisories-pfoa-and-pfos

Doctor Foxx posted...

The E.P.A. previously deemed a chemical safe at certain concentrations. Studies showed that it's very harmful at far lower levels than what the E.P.A. has deemed safe.

Oh dammit. That was kinda dumb.

More info: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/14/emails-white-house-interfered-with-science-study-536950

Scott Pruitts EPA and the White House sought to block publication of a federal health study on a nationwide water-contamination crisis, after one Trump administration aide warned it would cause a "public relations nightmare," newly disclosed emails reveal.

The intervention early this year not previously disclosed came as HHS' Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry was preparing to publish its assessment of a class of toxic chemicals that has contaminated water supplies near military bases, chemical plants and other sites from New York to Michigan to West Virginia.

The study would show that the chemicals endanger human health at a far lower level than EPA has previously called safe, according to the emails.

The public, media, and Congressional reaction to these numbers is going to be huge, one unidentified White House aide said in an email forwarded on Jan. 30 by James Herz, a political appointee who oversees environmental issues at the OMB. The email added: The impact to EPA and [the Defense Department] is going to be extremely painful. We (DoD and EPA) cannot seem to get ATSDR to realize the potential public relations nightmare this is going to be.

More than three months later, the draft study remains unpublished, and the HHS unit says it has no scheduled date to release it for public comment. Critics say the delay shows the Trump administration is placing politics ahead of an urgent public health concern something they had feared would happen after agency leaders like Pruitt started placing industry advocates in charge of issues like chemical safety.

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) called the delay "deeply troubling" on Monday, urging Pruitt and President Donald Trump "to immediately release this important study."

"Families who have been exposed to emerging contaminants in their drinking water have a right to know about any health impacts, and keeping such information from the public threatens the safety, health, and vitality of communities across our country," Hassan said, citing POLITICO's reporting of the issue.Details of the internal discussions emerged from EPA emails released to the Union of Concerned Scientists under the Freedom of Information Act.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a fellow New Hampshire Democrat, called the delay "an egregious example of politics interfering with the publics right to know. ... [I]ts unconscionable that even the existence of this study has been withheld until now."

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It's only unacceptable if they don't fix it, otherwise it's their job to keep the country running without our intervention.
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Doctor Foxx posted...

More info: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/14/emails-white-house-interfered-with-science-study-536950

I wonder if "public relations nightmare" actually means "fucking lawyers".

Questionmarktarius posted...

Doctor Foxx posted...

More info: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/14/emails-white-house-interfered-with-science-study-536950

I wonder if "public relations nightmare" actually means "fucking lawyers".

it means trouble for the DoD and we can't have that

The chemicals at issue in the HHS study have long been used in products like Teflon and firefighting foam, and are contaminating water systems around the country. Known as PFOA and PFOS, they have been linked with thyroid defects, problems in pregnancy and certain cancers, even at low levels of exposure.

The problem has already proven to be enormously costly for chemicals manufacturers. The 3M Co., which used them to make Scotchguard, paid more than $1.5 billion to settle lawsuits related to water contamination and personal injury claims.

But some of the biggest liabilities reside with the Defense Department, which used foam containing the chemicals in exercises at bases across the country. In a March report to Congress, the Defense Department listed 126 facilities where tests of nearby water supplies showed the substances exceeded the current safety guidelines.

A government study concluding that the chemicals are more dangerous than previously thought could dramatically increase the cost of cleanups at sites like military bases and chemical manufacturing plants, and force neighboring communities to pour money into treating their drinking water supplies.

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Doctor Foxx posted...

it means trouble for the DoD and we can't have that

aaaaaaah.

and force neighboring communities to pour money into treating their drinking water supplies.

What's so bad about that? Chances are good your local water-treatment system is outdated by several decades.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Doctor Foxx posted...

it means trouble for the DoD and we can't have that

aaaaaaah.

and force neighboring communities to pour money into treating their drinking water supplies.

What's so bad about that? Chances are good your local water-treatment system is outdated by several decades.

It's great but where does that money come from? Local taxpayers drinking the water, or those doing the contamination? That's the issue. Defense Department won't willingly be on the hook for that cleanup yet they should be
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Doctor Foxx posted...

Local taxpayers drinking the water, or those doing the contamination?

Wouldn't you want a product you're buying to make damn sure it's the best product possible, instead of blaming someone else when it sucks?

Doctor Foxx posted...

It's great but where does that money come from? Local taxpayers drinking the water, or those doing the contamination?

I think you mean your local council or the DoD, both of which you pay for.
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DrYuya posted...

Well if you continuously drink tap water and also expect the same lifespan as those who dont, is it really fair to place the blame on anyone but yourself?

Yes. Yes it is. Why should you have to assume tap water is unsafe?

Questionmarktarius posted...

Doctor Foxx posted...

Local taxpayers drinking the water, or those doing the contamination?

Wouldn't you want a product you're buying to make damn sure it's the best product possible, instead of blaming someone else when it sucks?

Yes I would. That's not the issue at hand.

Many military bases and nearby areas are already testing over the current acceptable levels in water supplies. This administration is actively hiding studies that show following the currently acceptable levels is unacceptably dangerous. There's a great number of people that may have a case against the government for this kind of harm
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