Coronavirus Sweeps Through Detroit, a City That Has Seen Crisis Before via @NYTimes
“The city itself is underequipped,” said Dr. Howard Markel, a professor of the history of medicine at the University of Michigan. “It’s a perfect storm of poverty and very rudimentary public health conditions.” more at: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/30/us/coronavirus-detroit.html
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer calls for water reconnections statewide, establishes fund to help communities comply via Michigan.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 28, 2020 EGLE Contact: McDiarmidJrH@michigan.gov Gov Contact: BrownT56@michigan.gov Gov. Gretchen Whitmer calls for water reconnections statewide, establishes fund to help communities comply Clean water for sanitation essential to protection from COVID-19 virus LANSING, MICH – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took strong steps today to ensure at-risk households have access to clean water for hand washing and sanitation through an executive order requiring the reconnection of service to residences that have had water service shut off. A $2-million Water Restart Grant Program will help communities comply with the order. “This is a critical step both for the health of families living without a reliable water source, and for slowing the spread of the Coronavirus,” said Whitmer. “We continue to work to provide all Michiganders – regardless of their geography or income level – the tools they need to keep themselves and their communities protected.” The order requires public water suppliers to immediately identify residences in their service area that do not currently have water service, and to make best efforts to restore service to homes where the service has been disconnected due to non-payment or damaged infrastructure. The order also includes reporting and accountability requirements. The order is effective for the duration of the COVID-19 emergency. It does not absolve anyone from responsibility for past-due bills. more at: https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/0,9309,7-387-90499_90640-523415–,00.html
Water Shutoffs in Sharp Focus Amid Coronavirus Outbreak via @NYTimes
DETROIT — The advice is simple and universal: Washing your hands with soap and water is one of the most effective ways to stop the spread of the coronavirus. But for millions of people across the country, that’s not simple at all: They lack running water in their houses due to service shutoffs prompted by overdue bills. The Rev. Roslyn Bouier remembers when children began to show up at the Brightmoor Connection Food Pantry on Detroit’s northwest side, clutching empty pitchers. It was the summer of 2014 and the kids were parched. But their thirst didn’t come from playing outside — they had no water at home. That was the year the city of Detroit started its water shutoff campaign, turning off water to 28,500 residential accounts behind on payments. Through the end of 2019, the city has recorded about 127,500 total service cutoffs, according to the water department, though that figure includes households where the water was turned off repeatedly. “In this pandemic, it’s the people who are living on the margins of society and the poorest of our society that’s being the most adversely impacted,” Bouier said. more at: https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/03/27/us/ap-virus-outbreak-water-shutoffs.html
Coronavirus makes even finding water to help the needy a struggle in Detroit via @BridgeMichigan
DETROIT — At St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood, dozens of volunteers gathered this week to unload a truck full of water bottles to distribute to those whose water remains off in the city. The center is one of three Detroit water service stations staffed by volunteers, and all have quickly exhausted their supplies and struggled to re-stock them during the coronavirus crisis. “There has been no distributor willing to sell us bulk water,” said Monica Lewis-Patrick, CEO of We the People of Detroit, an activist group, as she carried water from the truck to the church. “It’s because of hoarding and people’s fears around the pandemic.” more at: https://www.bridgemi.com/urban-affairs/coronavirus-makes-even-finding-water-help-needy-struggle-detroit
Detroiters Without Water Face Tough Odds, Even With Coronavirus Aid via @WDET
“People are already dealing with job loss so this is just compounding on other crises in their life,” says Elin Betanzo, founder of Safe Water Engineering.
‘It’s just despair’: Many Americans face coronavirus with no water to wash their hands via @NBCNews
“The city of Detroit shut off her water late last fall because of unpaid bills and a broken plumbing valve that she couldn’t afford to fix. Griffin, 55, was forced to rely on donated bottled water to drink, cook and bathe. She used space heaters to warm her home; without running water, the boiler didn’t work.” “Then the coronavirus hit. Governors and public health officials across the country ordered people to stay in their homes and — most importantly — to wash their hands.” More at: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/it-s-just-despair-many-I americans-face-coronavirus-no-water-n1169351
Opinion: Water access urgent in Detroit during outbreak – Elin Betanzo and Sylvia Orduño via @DetNews
You can’t wash your hands if your water has been shut off. Detroiters who have been fighting for a moratorium on water shutoffs for years finally received good news when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced a plan to stop shutoffs and directed the City of Detroit to reconnect water service for all residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. While over 350 US cities and states have pledged to stop new shutoffs nationwide, far fewer have committed to restoring water service. But announcing that water restorations are available does not mean the public health crisis has been fixed. Thousands of affected residents in Detroit and across the country need emergency water today. The promise of water shutoffs has always been that you will get your water back on when you pay your bill. But when days turn into months and then years without water service, it’s not so simple. Long-term shutoffs cause water quality problems in household plumbing. Water sitting for long periods in pipes and hot water tanks grows bacteria. Pipes freeze, pipes break, pipes fail. Stagnant water and air in unused plumbing corrode the pipe surfaces, allowing lead and other metals to dissolve and flake into the water. Lead pipe surfaces will leach lead until regular water use allows corrosion control treatment to start working again. Each house faces different risks: different materials, ages, conditions and duration of shutoff. Every home with an extended shutoff is like its own Flint water crisis waiting to happen. more at: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2020/03/25/opinion-water-access-urgent-detroit-during-outbreak/2901878001/
Help us show support for a national moratorium on water and utility shutoffs!!
Thanks to public pressure from people across the country, the US House has proposed legislation calling for a national moratorium on essential utilities, including water and sanitation, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sections 199991 and 199992 of the proposed House bill, released on March 23rd, require states and utilities to “adopt or maintain in force policies to prevent the shutoff of electricity, home heating and cooling, and drinking and wastewater services to residential customers during the COVID-19 public health emergency” and to provide “financial assistance to low income and other adversely affected consumers to assist with payments for drinking water and wastewater expenses by authorizing $1.5 billion for grants to states, territories and Indian Tribes.“ We need to show public support for the House Bill so that Senate Democrats will push for its inclusion in the final stimulus package. PLEASE CALL AND TWEET at Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader Schumer, and Senators Durbin and Wyden. Sample tweets and call scripts can be found here. Congressional contact info: Senator Schumer: DC Number: 202-224-6542 Twitter: @SenSchumer Senator Durbin: DC Number: 202-224-2854 Twitter: @SenatorDurbin Senator Wyden: DC Number: 202-224-5244 Twitter: @RonWyden Representative Pelosi DC Number: 202-225-4965 Twitter: @SpeakerPelosi
Administration Asks NJ Water Companies Not to Shut Off Service If Bills Go Unpaid
“The Murphy administration yesterday asked all water providers in New Jersey to suspend shutoffs for nonpayment of bills until the end of the public health emergency created by the spread of COVID-19. The plea is directed at every water system, public and private, including those operated by municipal governments. They’re all being asked to stop shutoffs until the end of the outbreak of COVID-19 by Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Catherine McCabe and Board of Public Utilities president Joseph Fiordaliso.” more at https://www.njspotlight.com/2020/03/administration-asks-nj-water-companies-not-to-shut-off-service-if-bills-go-unpaid/
We Demand Emergency Water Stations With Bleach and Cleaning Supplies
Activists want emergency water stations in Detroit, Flint The People’s Water Board Coalition on Friday said it’s awaiting action from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in response to a letter asking the governor to pull together resources, including the National Guard, to set up water stations and provide bleach and other cleaning supplies. The group further warned it is “deeply concerned” that Detroit’s water department will be unable to carry out a water restoration plan for homes in the city that have burst pipes, lead contamination and plumbing worries after been shut off over nonpayment for weeks to years. “We believe that local and state government are responsible for the public health of all residents and must do more to step up and protect us to stop the stem of the virus from expanding,” Sylvia Orduño, an organizer with the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization and member of the water coalition, said during a Friday teleconference with reporters.