It seems, "The Girls" are going to have to run a full court bench press when it comes to a pending, contemporaneous inherent conflicts of interest when it comes to the Flint Prosecution because is seems this may cross jurisdictions.
This is going to be fun.
From one of my cybermermaids, who has brought forth precious pearls of wisdom for the deep, dark bowels of the Michigan Government....
And they lied in the article.....waste water from there still flows into Flint Municipal system and goes through their water treatment plant and as far as I know that doesn't take out PFAS et al. that means it has been flowing to flint since it started getting into the waste systems and over/out flows.
Hey Bill, Smooches!
Oh, wait, we have Dana Nessel and "The Girls" in the Michigan Attorney General's Office over the Flint Water prosecution.
FLINT, MI -- The most recent testing at the former Buick City site shows elevated levels of PFOA or PFOS aren’t only in storm sewers on the 400-acre property, but in sanitary sewers as well.
Four of five sampling locations tested in mid-December showed elevated levels of one -- or both -- of the compounds, adding to evidence of widespread contamination that will require further sampling and investigation of connections to the sanitary sewers.
"We have reported these results to the U.S. (Environmental Protection Agency) and (Michigan Department of Environmental Quality),” the RACER Trust says in a posting on its web site.
RACER manages the old Buick property, which was abandoned by General Motors during its bankruptcy proceedings a decade ago. The court-created trust is charged with cleaning up and selling off the real estate for redevelopment, but sales have been put on hold until the scope of PFAS contamination is better defined.
In November, RACER held community meetings to discuss its finding to date.
PFAS are a group of man-made chemicals that includes PFOA, PFOS and many other chemicals that have been manufactured and used in a variety of industries in the United States since the 1940s, according to EPA.
Although there are few regulations to stop the spread of PFAS, either from the federal or state government, Michigan’s rule for water quality specifically limiting PFOS to 12-parts per trillion -- is one of them.
RACER’s web posting says the most recent water samples were collected Dec. 17 from five locations in the sanitary sewer that flows east along Hamilton Avenue and then combines with the sanitary main from James P Cole Boulevard.
Concentrations of PFOA ranged from zero to 2,280 ng/L, and PFOS results ranged from zero to 27,580 ng/L -- nearly twice the level as the highest previous testing of groundwater in the area.
Both the groundwater and sanitary sewer tests showed high results near a former paint shop, north of the new Lear Corp. plant.
Testing for a range of per- and poly-fluorinated compounds started last year at the Buick complex, which GM fully closed in 2010.
The property is one of four sites in Genesee County that the state DEQ is investigating because of elevated levels of PFAS. Others are the shuttered Richfield and Coldwater Road landfills and Bishop Airport.
RACER officials have said none of the PFAS detected on the Buick City property is making its way to the municipal water system, which has not drawn from the Flint River since October 2015.
Previous testing showed PFAS moving through the storm sewer system into the river.
Flint — A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency water expert testified Wednesday that Michigan Department of Environmental Quality officials told him that Flint was not treating its water with anti-corrosion controls as he warned them it wasn't safe.
Miguel Del Toral, the EPA's Region 5 regulations manager, began looking into water quality issues in Flint in February 2015 after a resident called to alert him to high lead levels in her home.
DEQ water treatment engineer Patrick Cook told Del Toral about the water treatment plant issues, the EPA expert said. Del Toral met with then-DEQ official Liane Shekter Smith at the Chicago EPA headquarters to discuss the issue as well — with him saying each time Flint was not meeting federal standards.
And Del Toral said he was "very surprised" at the lack of corrosion controls and no plans to implement them.
"I was informed by Patrick Cook via email that the city of Flint did not continue using corrosive control treatment after they disconnected from Detroit (area water)," Del Toral said. "Because the city of Flint has lead service lines and in the absence of treatment to lower lead levels within lead service lines, they can get very high."
Del Toral was testifying before 67th District Court Judge Jennifer Manley at the preliminary exam hearing for DEQ water regulators Stephen Busch, Michael Prysby, Cook as well as Shekter Smith, the fired head of the DEQ division responsible for overseeing Flint’s water source switch. This is the first Flint preliminary exam where Del Toral has been asked to testify.
The state regulators have been charged with various criminal offenses, including misconduct in office.
Shekter Smith and Busch are each charged with involuntary manslaughter. Attorney General Bill Schuette accused them and four others of failing to alert the public about a 2014-2015 outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the Flint area that killed 12 people and sickened another 79 individuals.
Del Toral, who manages water regulations for the EPA based in Chicago, was the latest witness to testify for Special Prosecutor Todd Flood against them. Much of Del Toral's testimony was technical and often interrupted by objections from defense counsel.
The EPA water expert was considered the agency's Midwest whistle-blower on Flint's lead-contaminated water. In a June 2015 email, he pleaded with superiors to protect Flint residents from lead contamination and even asked for permission to do additional water testing in Flint on his own dime to prove his assertions of widespread lead contamination.
“I understand that this is not a comfortable situation, but the State is complicit in this and the public has a right to know what they are doing because it is their children that are being harmed,” Del Toral wrote in a June 2015 memo to EPA officials. “At a MINIMUM, the city should be warning residents about the high lead, not hiding it telling them there is no lead in the water.”
EPA District 5 Director Susan Hedman asked for a legal opinion about whether the agency could intervene in Flint and didn't receive an answer until November 2015 — after Michigan recognized the crisis in October 2015. Hedman retired after The Detroit News published a January 2016 story about her delay in seeking action.
Under questioning in court, Del Toral said he first became aware of the Flint situation from resident LeAnne Walters, not from DEQ officials. Busch told Del Toral that the lead problem wasn't with the city's service line but with Walters' pipes and that she needed to call a plumber.
But Del Toral said Busch's assertion was "misleading" because she had all plastic pipes in her home.
Walters reached out to Del Toral because lead levels in her home were high and he and another colleague were set to visit her home in April.
"When I see numbers that high, usually they're indicative of lead service lines," he said. "And so my concern was that she had high lead coming off her services lines."
Del Toral will continue his testimony from Flood and then under cross examination on Sept. 19.Del Toral was testifying before 67th District Court Judge Jennifer Manley at the preliminary exam hearing for DEQ water regulators Stephen Busch, Michael Prysby, Cook as well as Shekter Smith, the fired head of the DEQ division responsible for overseeing Flint’s water source switch. This is the first Flint preliminary exam where Del Toral has been asked to testify.
The state regulators have been charged with various criminal offenses, including misconduct in office.
Shekter Smith and Busch are each charged with involuntary manslaughter. Attorney General Bill Schuette accused them and four others of failing to alert the public about a 2014-2015 outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the Flint area that killed 12 people and sickened another 79 individuals.
Del Toral, who manages water regulations for the EPA based in Chicago, was the latest witness to testify for Special Prosecutor Todd Flood against them. Much of Del Toral's testimony was technical and often interrupted by objections from defense counsel.
The EPA water expert was considered the agency's Midwest whistle-blower on Flint's lead-contaminated water. In a June 2015 email, he pleaded with superiors to protect Flint residents from lead contamination and even asked for permission to do additional water testing in Flint on his own dime to prove his assertions of widespread lead contamination.
“I understand that this is not a comfortable situation, but the State is complicit in this and the public has a right to know what they are doing because it is their children that are being harmed,” Del Toral wrote in a June 2015 memo to EPA officials. “At a MINIMUM, the city should be warning residents about the high lead, not hiding it telling them there is no lead in the water.”
EPA District 5 Director Susan Hedman asked for a legal opinion about whether the agency could intervene in Flint and didn't receive an answer until November 2015 — after Michigan recognized the crisis in October 2015. Hedman retired after The Detroit News published a January 2016 story about her delay in seeking action.
Under questioning in court, Del Toral said he first became aware of the Flint situation from resident LeAnne Walters, not from DEQ officials. Busch told Del Toral that the lead problem wasn't with the city's service line but with Walters' pipes and that she needed to call a plumber.
But Del Toral said Busch's assertion was "misleading" because she had all plastic pipes in her home.
Walters reached out to Del Toral because lead levels in her home were high and he and another colleague were set to visit her home in April.
"When I see numbers that high, usually they're indicative of lead service lines," he said. "And so my concern was that she had high lead coming off her services lines."
Del Toral will continue his testimony from Flood and then under cross examination on Sept. 19.
I would actually settle for federal receivership of HHS, but why not ask for the stars when you only want the moon? (This is a negotiation tactic. You might just get lucky and get it all.)
Federal receivership of a state's Health and Human Services Department has been done before.
#DOJ can easily adopt the "Termination of Rights" argument that Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, along with his trusted cohort, Maura Corrigan, and I am quite sure it will not be too difficult to pull in a few more names to qualify it as a conspiracy, engaged in false claims and noncompliance of federal grant funding.
I prefer the term of privatization.
To date, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has not intervened, has not lifted one damn finger, has done absolutely nothing, not even a press release or a bottle of filtered water, to help the children, at least.
It has not even declared an emergency nor has it advocated for federal relief.
Where is the glorious Michigan Child Protective Services when Madame Corrigan has so staunchly generated accolades of caring for Michigan's children in federal court?
The Michigan Department of Education has presented itself as utterly useless when it comes to being the de facto parent of Flint's children during the hours of school days.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, well, I will let DOJ complete its investigation first.
What the DOJ does with Snyder and Corrigan, let us just say that I shall sit back and enjoy the moment.
I believe she is unaware of the impact of her words when speaking about the physical effects of drinking the lead laced water.
She mentions people were beginning to show hair loss, in clumps and severe skin rashes.
Lead in the water system is what brought down the Roman Empire. Its aqueducts were lined in lead.
We learned this in grade school history classes, but obviously, it did not matter to the State of Michigan.
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha is a hero in more ways than one.
To begin, she was able to successfully introduce empirical science into Michigan child welfare policy making.
The numbers made the argument. As there is an increase in the levels of lead in the water, there is a direct and perfect correlation with cognitive and psychological developmental disabilities in children as well as an adverse effect in the economic well-being of the population. This is well documented, yet was blatantly ignored by the state. Here is why:
It almost seems the Department of Environmental Quality was creating conditions to solicit the federal government on securing funding to repair and update Flint's water system under a private contractor, but who am I to make such a sensational statement?
Medicaid in child welfare has no oversight mechanism and its billing is easily manipulated which makes this a political issue. Child poverty and its resulting disabilities maximize revenue for its privatized, not-for-profit programs under the Medicaid expansion.
There is no reason why DEQ could not confer with DHHS when issues dealing with the safety and well-being of children were raised and slammed on the table to be addressed by the Doctor and her team. These administrators need to be held accountable for intentionally allowing children of Michigan to suffer. There needs to be an investigation and public hearing to find out why this was allowed to happen.
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha uncovered another Medicaid fraud scheme in child welfare, and that is what makes her a real hero. Flint doctor makes state tell lead truth
Spokesman apologizes for questioning results
Under the steady gaze of a watercolor giraffe and tissue paper butterflies, a Flint pediatrician and mother of two last month forced the state of Michigan to snap to attention.
But getting the state to concede the probability that Flint's water is poisoning its children with lead —after months of assurances from both city and state officials that the water is safe — was far from easy.
It required Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, 38, to side-step bureaucracy. It meant awkward conversations and putting her hospital —city-owned Hurley Medical Center — smack-dab in a political minefield.
And it meant checking her data “a zillion times,” she said, then second-guessing herself to the point of being physically ill when a state spokesman questioned her credibility.
Just hours after state officials acknowledged her data, Hanna-Attisha felt equal parts exhausted and vindicated — at one moment laughing at congratulatory e-mails and comments from colleagues (Maybe they'll give you a lead key to the city, one had quipped), at another reciting sobering statistics about the life-long damage from lead poisoning: irreversible brain damage, development delays, speech problems, a boosted risk for behavioral issues, serious chronic conditions, to name a few.
"It has been such a physiologic response," she said of her look at the numbers and the state's reaction. She sat in her office, where children's artwork hangs haphazardly on the walls. A pink-lettered sign on her door — This is my fight song, it reads — pays homage to Hurley's youngest cancer patients.
"At times I want to cry and then I’m so happy," she said.
But then Hanna-Attisha,a pediatrician for many of Flint's poorest families whose training and experience has focused on environmental toxins and health disparities, shook her head.
"But then I’m tearful because how could this have happened in 2015 when all these regulations are in place (to ensure clean water)? For a population that has every burden in the world already, this is the last thing they needed," she said.
In retrospect, Attisha served as the canary in the coalmine in this latest public health crisis — the doctor who spotted a problem and wouldn't let it go until others paid attention, said Dr. Eden Wells, the state’s chief medical executive.
"She was a doc on the front lines who knows to pick up the phone ... rattle some cages and say 'Hey, come here, we’ve got a problem,'" Wells said.
It began over a dinner party with high school friends Aug. 26.
Among Hanna-Attisha's guests was a friend who played piano at her wedding and is also a water-quality expert. The conversation turned to the issue of the drinking water. Have you looked at kids' blood-lead levels? the friend asked.
Hanna-Attisha was not only intrigued, but also perfectly positioned for such a data dive.
She heads the pediatric residents program at Hurley and is a pediatrics and human development professor at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. She sits on the Michigan Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, too.
In short, she lives as much on the research side of medicine as she does the clinical side.
So she knew that routinely drawn blood-led level data existed for thousands of Flint-area children, especially those on Medicaid or who live in high-risk areas for lead exposure. The following week, she turned to the Genesee County Health Department for its blood-lead level data.
She was disappointed. Test results are kept in individual patient files and could not be easily analyzed, Genesee County health officer Mark Valacak told Hanna-Attisha.
Undaunted, she asked the state for its analysis of the same blood-level data for Flint.
In the meantime, local and state officials were facing mounting pressure from residents who had already complained that the water smelled and tasted funny.
In mid-September, a Virginia Tech researcher and lead expert, Marc Edwards, concluded from his testing of Flint water it was 19 times more corrosive than Detroit water. And even though repeated testing at Flint's water treatment plant had detected no lead and testing in homes had registered lead at acceptable levels, according to the state, Edwards wrote on his web site, www.flintwaterstudy.org, that his own test results suggested an undeniable presence of lead in water drawn from Flint homes.
While she waited for state data, Hanna-Attisha began sorting through Hurley's own records — a total of 1,746 test results from Flint children to compare against 1,640 results from elsewhere in Genesee County. The results were sobering: The number of Flint children with elevated blood-lead levels — 5 micrograms per deciliter or more — jumped from 2.1% in the 20 months prior to Sept. 15, 2013, to 4.0% between Jan. 1 and Sept. 15 this year. In certain ZIP Codes, the change was even more troubling, she said — jumping from 2.5% of the children tested to 6.3%.
The change correlated roughly to the timing of the city's switch from using Detroit water to water that would be temporarily drawn from the Flint River.
She and her research assistant kept rechecking the numbers — often late into the evening.
One night, "her baby is crying and I’m like 'Can you run that p-value one more time?'" she said, chuckling.
By the time Hanna-Attisha went to Hurley's CEO, Melany Gavulic, public panic was high. Community organizations were handing out filters and bottled water. Community leaders blamed a state-appointed emergency manager for changing water systems. It's an election year too for the city.
It was a “politically messy situation,” Hanna-Attisha told her boss. Gavulic was clear, Hanna-Attisha said: Kids' health comes first.
On Sept. 24, Hanna-Attisha went public with her results.
The response from the state, she said, was startling. Her research was dismissed and her comments called "unfortunate."
Brad Wurfel, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, repeated a familiar refrain: Repeated testing indicated the water tested within acceptable levels.
Hanna-Attisha said she crawled into bed that night, physically ill.
"We checked our data a bazillion times ... but when you hear (the state's dismissal) on national news, how can you not doubt yourself?" she said.
She wasn't the only one surprised. Valacak, the Genesee County health executive, said he, "took offense ... in part because I know how dedicated she is and I know the quality of her character."
That Monday, Valacak emailed state health officials. Among his questions: Why would the state's analysis include non-Flint residents? On Tuesday, he pushed again for an answer. On Wednesday: "Any update?"
He got no answers, he said: "It was frustrating."
At the same time, Hanna-Attisha had stepped up conversations with Wells, who had taken her post as the state's chief medical executive in May. The two women knew of each other and had even stood together earlier this year to promote immunizations.
Wells, who leads the preventive medicine residency program at the University of Michigan's school of public health, said she'd heard media reports about Flint's water. She balanced those against water-quality tests indicating the water was safe. Moreover, a look at county-wide data didn't trigger any alarms.
Now, she was alarmed by a closer look at Hanna-Attisha's findings.
In several conversations, Wells and Hanna-Attisha compared the pediatrician's analysis against that of the state epidemiologists. Among the differences: The state's number included kids from outside Flint — those who wouldn't normally drink Flint water. Some had Flint addresses but lived outside city limits.
As September drew to a close, state health epidemiologists reanalyzed their data, eventually confirming Hanna-Attisha's results. Wells saw a yellow Post-it note from her staff on her keyboard when she walked in at 7:30 a.m. Oct. 1. Her own data analysts had confirmed Hanna-Attisha's findings. She walked down the hallway to find Nick Lyon, director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. They'd have to let the public know — and fast, the two decided.
That same day, Valacak and Genesee County commissioners declared a public health emergency. Commission chairman Jamie Curtis said he'd simply had enough. Dr. Hanna-Attisha's data couldn't be ignored, no matter what state authorities said water testing indicated. "In six years I don’t want 5- and 6-year-olds going to school with lead poisoning," he said.
Valacak said he got a call the next day — Friday, shortly before the state news conference. Dr. Hanna-Attisha's numbers had been confirmed, he was told.
At 1:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, Flint Mayor Dayne Walling joined state officials — environmental, health, and public relations — at the microphone in front of a packed room of reporters.
"We understand many have lost confidence in the drinking water. We need to build that back. We need to do that more," Dan Wyant, of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, said in front of a line of cameras. Reporters tapped away on keyboards. Outside were protesters.
Quietly in the back of the room stood Hanna-Attisha, She leaned over to Brad Wurfel, the state spokesman who a week earlier had called her work “unfortunate" in a time of “near hysteria."
You called me irresponsible, Hanna-Attisha recalled saying to him. Wurfel said he was sorry.
"I had the opportunity to apologize ... I was grateful for the opportunity to do it," Wurfel told the Free Press later. "I will be the first to say, I came on a little strong on this because I believed the numbers we had in the moment."
Hanna-Attisha, whom Gavulic called "definitely one of our superstars" even before her recent spotlight, said she and other researchers aren't done. They want to specifically map blood-lead levels throughout the city's neighborhoods, and they want to test for blood-levels in cord blood from Flint's newest babies.
Exhausting? Yes. Ready to stop? Never, she said: "Because this is what matters. This is what we do ... This is why we're here."
FLINT, MI -- The most recent testing at the former Buick City site shows elevated levels of PFOA or PFOS aren’t only in storm sewers on the 400-acre property, but in sanitary sewers as well.
