Tt post jul 31 2015

IIs this proof from my buddy Ed Moore that last year's alleged crisis was a massive city mistake that has now mushroomed into a huge taxpayer-supported, nutty-ass boondoggle?

Public Utilities Director Ed Moore said he drinks the city’s tap water and drank it last year even during the do-not-drink advisory because he believed it was never unsafe for consumption.

More from today's Blade story:

Calling the public hypersensitive ...

That's an understatement. But maybe it should read:

"Calling the public distrustful of city government ..."

Tests showed the raw water Wednesday afternoon contained 1.0 parts per billion of microcystin. That was up from 0.5 ppb Monday and 0.4 ppb Tuesday. The test performed Thursday showed the level at 0.5 ppb, city spokesman Stacy Weber said.

The U.S. EPA in May said it is acceptable for people school-age and older to drink tap water with up to 1.6 parts per billion of microcystin in it.

People have wigged out, regarding the level of microcystin in raw water when that same level is acceptable in our tap water.

The public's reaction to the current microcystin levels in raw water is embarrassingly ignorant.

If the public, however, lacks faith in city officials, then that's understandable.

May 12, 2015 Toledo Talk thread started by hockeyfan:

Just got a [snail-mail] letter today [May 12] from the Toledo Water Treatment Plant. It says that "The city of toledo public water system did not meet treatment requirements due to limitations of the current chlorine feed facility.

It goes on to say that on March 18, 2015, 2% of the total flow was not in contact with chlorine or a similar disinfectant for a minimum amount of time.

... people with severely compromised immune systems and some elderly may be at increased risk.

It took about seven weeks for the water department to inform the public via snail mail that the treatment plant experienced an issue.

May 14, 2015 comment by justread:

I haven't drank Toledo water in a long time. And it has NOTHING to do with algae. It has to do with trust, and I don't trust them. That's the real crisis after all.

Back to the Jul 31, 2015 Blade story:

The mayor said she ordered city chemists Thursday to perform the additional test that detects microcystin levels out of an abundance of caution and to appease the community.

Mayor Hicks-Hudson said she did that “because of the hypersensitivity of our community [and] to let them know at no time were we putting anyone at risk.”

I don't know. Maybe PH2 is being insulting. She needs to sit back and look at the big picture, regarding city government over the past many years.

Maybe the citizenry has no confidence in the city doing its job well. When the city can show some competence in this area, then maybe the citizens won't be so "hypersensitive."

It's two issues for the public:

1. needless concern about the current microcystin levels
2. long-term, massive distrust with city government

The latter is far more important, but if the former is what gets the mayor's attention, then so be it. I say let the public continue to freak out if that will make the water department more accountable.

#toledo #politics #moronism #lakeerie #water