Neighborhood kids helping with water crisis in Detroit
The shutoffs are happening all over the city and it will affect about half the occupied households here in Detroit. Monday I heard from a friend in Northend that numerous houses in a 2-3 block area were being shutoff. She went out to the water access and stood over it refusing to move. The contractor from Homrich, a demolition company, said he'd call the police and Valerie told him go ahead. Detroiters know the police take hours to show up and often just don't unless there's blood leaking out of a body. So he moved along shutting off other houses. Her house was spared because she defied and then contacted her network about what to do. Working through Michigan Welfare Rights Organization a 30 day stay on Valerie's shutoff was reached with a plan for payment. Valerie has five children under 12 at home and her husband is out working various jobs often for 12 hours a day. Valerie seeing the plight of the neighborhood contacted the
Detroit Water Brigade and
Peoples Water Board Coalition, then she started cooking a huge pot of chili to feed everyone on the block and offer water to all. Yes Valerie is another activist in the street like myself. We're kindred spirits with connections all over the city.
Monday I also called a friend in South Schafer neighborhood, "The wHole" as its known by the locals. Homrich was down near the Marathon refinery making those ill from the air pollution even worse off by shutting off water there. I asked my friend to please get the Water Hotline number circulating 844-42WATER for people to get assistance.
Another activist friend Diane Feeley wrote the article "Detroit's Crisis Deepens as Water Shutoffs Hit Thousands", with her personal account of water shutoff threatened. A 3 month bill for $511 at a four apartment building was leading to shutoff for four families, one with small children and Diane is elderly. Activists do confront and Diane asked if any notice had been delivered - there hadn't been. She contacted the property owner and ensured things were getting cleared up BEFORE the water was shutoff.
Last night Amber called and her neighbor across the street had a DWSD truck shutting water off. A blue DWSD van followed and when she went over to give the Water Hotline number the DWSD worker insisted she wasn't around as he spoke with the neighbor, who has two small children and no vehicle. I told Amber there's a DWSD meeting tonight, Thursday July 17 from 6-8pm regarding the Master Water Plan being rolled out by Detroit Water & Sewage Department. I've looked through the slideshow presented May 14, 2014 and it'll probably be used tonight.
There are some things that need to be clarified for the typical American reader. This isn't as much about paying the bill as it is grooming the water department for takeover. Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr and his Jones Day team have been looking for how to sweeten a privatization position on our public water. As Paster David Alexander Bullock said on TakePart with Melissa Harris-Perry "The only way that Orr can sell the department, Bullock said, is to prove that he can collect the money owed it by the city's impoverished residents."
Detroit's water supplies 49 neighboring communities with fresh water and handles sewage. Rates vary across the metropolitan area. Detroit is at the epicenter for processing, so the amount of infrastructure to reach within the city is lower than carrying it into the suburbs. However the city's systems have been left to decay for various reasons, one of which is improper demolition projects, secondly large numbers of foreclosed, evicted and abandoned properties with water flowing. Detroit is on a monthly billing cycle, many of the suburbs remain on quarterly collections. While rates went up 4.3% across the service area. Detroit's rates went up 8.7%, which is to raise funds to cover those unable to pay. These hikes make a ten year rise in rates of 119%. Detroit families pay on the average $75 monthly, nationally the average is $40. It is said we've got great drinking water here. The water quality report was sent at the end of June - I suppose that was to prod the residents of Detroit about paying for what is received. Personally I looked at the fluoride and wondered why the number is .6 on a scale from 0 to .87. Why fluoride? It acts as a sedative and impairs learning potential in small children according to research out of Harvard University. I suppose fluoride levels went up when EMA had certified engineers removed from DWSD positions, moving the certification to outside hands - thereby nobody's license is on the line for water quality any longer.
Tonight DWSD will discuss a new District Metering Program. I've taken the maps showing declining population areas where the department intends to retire water mains. This aligns with Detroit Future City Plan. Could it be a plan to increase cost of delivery in low infrastructure areas, thus forcing people to relocate as the price of water escalates? Those are questions and concerns I will raise at the meeting tonight.
5:50 AM PT: Here is a link to the 20 year Master Plan Update that will be presented tonight: http://bit.ly/...