Drinking Water Monitoring System Sees A Lack Of Funding In Detroit Area
A lack of funding to drinking water monitoring systems for the St. Clair and Detroit rivers could affect the water supplied to about 3 million people.
In a recent article from freep.com, systems that are used to frequently monitor water quality in the Detroit area have been operating on a budget much less than required. These systems look for chemicals and oil related products at 13 different intakes. At a reduced operational level, the system cannot be used as frequently per day. This is definitely a concern, as contaminants need to be discovered well before they make it to a treatment plant.
It costs 1 million dollars to have the system fully operational. There is currently only $210,000 being devoted to it as of this article. A recent spill that was detected this past July 15th shows that there is definitely a need for this monitoring system. There have also been 8 children that have been diagnosed with a rare form of kidney cancer known as Wilms’ Tumor since 2007. While there is no proof that this disease is directly linked to water pollution, it is a likely cause.
Michigan has definitely been one of the states hardest hit by the recession. Local politicians must have been, and continue to be under extreme pressure in deciding which programs must be reduced or cut because of a lack of state funding. However, basic public access to clean drinking water must be somewhere towards the top of the list. The money might be hard to find now, but it’s out there. Wealthy business owners and other high profile politicians can certainly find the means of protecting the health of people who have made them rich.
We’re not talking about some miscellaneous state-sponsored recreational program. This is about the basic human right to clean drinking water, and yet there’s a price tag on it. Water monitoring systems should be protected at all costs. Ideally, money should not be an issue, it should just be taken care of. I know, that’s not the world we live in. The dollar always has the last word. Hopefully those in power will begin to realize that some things in life deserve to be looked at from a less capitalistic viewpoint.
Tagged with: environment • pollution • water pollution
Filed under: Environment • Pollution • water pollution
One cannot neglect the safety of the much needed necessity for the people. There are lots of problems/crisis but ours tend to neglect the very asset of having a good source of water for drinking.
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