Water Contamination Government Lies in Alabama part 2

This post is what I suppose should be called part two of the water contamination crisis in Alabama, you can find the first piece I wrote here. First note: it was the water board that made this choice; a choice science and scientists back up as I’ll show below.

As you’ll see below, “oddly” there seems to be some conflict in what the scientists and state and county government believe.While at the cited press conference government officials numerous times stated they would not panic over this situation and so forth; only to find out by more scientists that they were in the wrong. Anyhow, that insane view of don’t worry the water is probably safe; drink it while you wait for us to figure it out! doesn’t work for me.

I automatically am going to believe the ones who have spent decades studying the topic and the water board and not drink the water if for no other reason, as a precaution. Let us not forget, the scientists I speak of have made it their job to study this kind of issue, have  history as well as years of data on their side. They support the water boards call to not drink the contaminated water. 

Should be plain and simple… but it’s not.

Government officials in the area are frustrated and clearly

unhappy with the choice as Morgan County Commission Chairman Ray Long tells us and expressed during a press conference June 3rd, 2016.

His complaint is the given government wasn’t given notice of the issue until the announcement came out by the Water Board. Now if we had an open, honest government and that happened on a business level I can see why that’d be frustrating. But Long made half his speech about how angry he was that they defy him by speaking out without telling him first. Shouldn’t it be about the people that may be at risk?

I support what the Water Board did given the real world we live in. Seeing how many government officials work to cover up and /or deny the existence of a problem while more and more people are put at risk, perhaps the Water Board made the wisest move it could for the people by speaking out independently.

Speaking in defense of Don Simmons, the man who spoke out and gave the important call:

“The thing people need to understand is…The EPA actually said in their advisory, to reduce risk, seek an alternative water source. That’s what Don Simms did. He wanted to move quickly after the decision was made.”

Regarding health problems from PFOS & PFOA the attorney for the people affected continued, “…the science is well documented” and they will just have to catch up.

Corporations and politicians in the Alabama state government and the local county government state they won’t let this panic them and are  have people believe to be the health risks they face.

Anyone who thinks ‘the government wouldn’t lie’ and wants to believe their response…this article will do you no service. I believe scientists word over the government, especially when our government has a history of lying, not taking care of a decent amount of people, only looking out for themselves and the corporations that bring in money.

As noted in my last post, the contaminates -which I’ll get to in a moment- are from chemicals typically used by companies/corporations to manufacture sealants for carpet, non-stick cooking devices and for waterproofing things such as clothing. All that said, it’s clear that despite anger from one of the companies VP that local corporations have been dumping their waste into the Tennessee River.

Now the state and county government is saying the water company shouldn’t have issued a “panic” to the people in the two communities they serve and insist the water’s fine; even at one point

WHAT CONTAMINATES WERE FOUND AND WHAT ARE THE HEALTH RISKS?

Here is information from scientists, who have linked prolonged exposure to the chemicals found in the water provided by the West Morgan-East Lawrence Water Authority and West Lawrence Water Co-Op to a number of health problems, including cancer.

One of the major chemicals causing concern in the water here is PFOA, also known as C8.

During 2005 to 2013, the C8 Science Panel carried out exposure and health studies by collecting data from 69,000 people.  These people lived in the Mid-Ohio Valley communities and were exposed to PFOA.

They published their findings in “Probable Link Reports.”

Here are the health ailments with a probable link to PFOA exposure:

• Diagnosed high cholesterol
• Ulcerative colitis
• Thyroid disease
• Pregnancy-induced hypertension
• Kidney cancer
• Testicular cancer

The  EPA affirms those findings and adds:

• Developmental effects for fetuses
• Liver tissue damage
• Immune system impairments to the list.

Again, these health effects come with prolonged exposure, so the best health step you can take is to reduce exposure.

If you live in an affected area, you can do that by not drinking or cooking with the affected water.

For emphasis, the  EPA advises water should have  PFOA and  PFOS levels below 70 parts per trillion.

The last water data from the Alabama Department for Environmental Management for the West Morgan East Lawrence water authority puts their level at 230 parts per trillion.

It is always important to emphasize here, these contaminants have been in the water for well over a decade and it’s prolonged exposure that causes the issues. It’s not something you’ll notice overnight.

So, as we have already said, what you want to be looking to do is reduce your exposure going forward.

Click here to be directed to “Warriors for Clean Water”:

Channel 19 is going to be directing people to our page and people are scared and rightly so. We are creating a fact page because we now have 100s of pages of tests done. We have been reading of people’s concerns and we’re going to try to address these concerns in a down to earth way. The answers to questions will be based on scientific facts with no agenda, but to inform.

The latest I have heard, is the following headline/link.

Decatur Utilities to make water available to West Morgan East Lawrence customers