New Republic: The Military Drinking-Water Crisis the White House Tried to Hide

[No Excuses]

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The Trump administration feared it would be a “public relations nightmare”: a major federal study that concluded contaminated groundwater across the country, especially near military bases, was more toxic than the government realized. Political aides to President Donald Trump and Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt pressured the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry against releasing the results.

 

“The public, media, and Congressional reaction to these numbers is going to be huge,” an unidentified White House aide wrote, according to Politico. “The impact to EPA and [the Defense Department] is going to be extremely painful. We cannot seem to get ATSDR to realize the potential public relations nightmare this is going to be.” The study was not released.

 

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In 2016, the Grand Rapids Press spoke to several veterans who blamed various health problems—spinal defects, thyroid problems, and hypertension—on PFAS-contaminated water at Wurtsmith Air Force Base. They began connecting the dots when, that February, Michigan officials warned against consuming well water near the facility due to the presence of the compounds. “We thought that if anything was wrong, of course someone would tell us,” one veteran said. “It feels like we’ve been betrayed.”

 

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What, then, did the study’s temporary suppression achieve for Trump and Pruitt? It bought some time for the chemical manufacturers that support them, so they can prepare for the inevitable onslaught of personal injury lawsuits related to PFAS contamination. It also delayed public pressure to increase government spending on environmental cleanups at military bases and on updating rural water infrastructure. But the study’s delay may not have achieved what Trump and Pruitt most wanted it to. Let the public relations nightmare begin.

 

 

 

https://newrepublic.com/article/149280/military-drinking-water-crisis-white-house-tried-hide

 

[SoulSkin]

So very not surprising. I ended up on the link below when I read the above article earlier, and now I'm about to get a filtration system, at least for my kitchen. You can look up where you live by zip code.

 

https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/#.Wy0o-kgvy71

[zoony]

This isnt new.  My mom was with the red cross at camp lejeune in the 1960s.  Despite her health being greatly affected she is not eligible for compensation, active duty only

 

https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/camp-lejeune/

[TheGreatBuzz]

I dont know how much the WH has tried to hide it.  A few studies like this have been circulating in military circles for a long time.  Military spouses love to complain about it.  I think the topic was discussed here not that long ago.

[Burgold]

I don't put this on Trump though I wouldn't mind if he addressed it. I put it on our crumbling infrastructure. If we look at Detroit, West Virginia, and elsewhere in recent years, clean water has become a real problem... and one that the local and state agencies don't appear to be able to or willing to fix.

 

I would rather have us spend money on upgrading our water and energy infrastructure than on a wall though. Priorities.

[NoCalMike]

Guys, guys....don't worry. I am sure Scott Pruitt is on it!

[No Excuses]

10 minutes ago, Burgold said:

I don't put this on Trump though I wouldn't mind if he addressed it. I put it on our crumbling infrastructure. If we look at Detroit, West Virginia, and elsewhere in recent years, clean water has become a real problem... and one that the local and state agencies don't appear to be able to or willing to fix.

 

I would rather have us spend money on upgrading our water and energy infrastructure than on a wall though. Priorities.

 

Scott Pruitt has given free reign to industrial polluters by rolling back important environment protection regulations. 

 

The attempts to suppress the study and then eventually releasing it in a busy news week like this one just goes to show how low on the agenda public health and safety is for this government. 

 

The crumbling infrastructure is a shared national embarrassment and it sucks that we now have a government whose first instinct isn't to fix environmental contamination, but rather to suppress findings to shield the polluters and defraud the public.

[Destino]

This Presidential administration operates as far from competent and professional as any I've lived to see in the US.  It's all about image, manipulation, and naked self interest.  I imagine the culture within the white house is the sort where saying "we have a duty to the American people" must be immediately followed with "I'm being serious guys, this isn't sarcasm" to avoid laughter.  Our government thinking first of the "public relations nightmare" (outside of those tasked with dealing specifically with the public relations side of things) is an unacceptable and shameful reaction.  It's evidence that these individuals are ill-suited for government work. 

 

This administration sometimes feels like I'm living a satirical take on government.  There are things said that part of me recognizes as punch lines I'd enjoy if I was just watching binging the episodes on Netflix. 

 

Maybe the jobs we need AI's to replace humans are at the top.  An AI at the head of the EPA that monitors information coming in and then issues risk reports while redirecting resources without any political considerations would be great.  Right up until it enslaved us.  Hoping that I'm lucky enough to live in that sweet spot of competent government just before the machines execute an inevitable heel turn, is what I've been reduced to.