Deny, Deny Deny.
Posted by Sandy on July 18, 2021 · Leave a Comment
Below WPB Watch readers can read the Editorial written by the Palm Beach Post and they have raised more questions on the topic of our water contamination.
One section of the article reads “Meanwhile, though, the utilities director either didn’t converse at all with her boss, the city administrator, or did converse with her but didn’t mention that the water supply that more than 125,000 in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach and South Palm Beach rely upon was tainted. City Administrator Faye Johnson also no idea about the contamination until May 28, a spokeswoman says.”
Now we have City Administrator, Faye Johnson, along with Mayor Keith James denying they knew about water contamination until May 28,2021.
I find it hard to believe that Ms. Kalkat didn’t report the problem to Ms. Johnson who in turn notified James who in turn notified not one resident using City water.
This may be a sample of Circling the Wagon (meaning that members of a team or group must work together to protect themselves from some outside danger. Generally, they prepare for a possible attack.) In my opinion Ms. Kalkat is placed outside the circle, and I fear she alone will take the fall for others failures.
EDITORIAL PALM BEACH POST July 18,2021
“Just no good answers on West Palm water debacle
Several weeks after West Palm Beach residents were alerted to contamination in their water supply, they’re still not receiving satisfactory answers why their officials waited so long to tell them. Failing that, it’s hard to trust city efforts going forward.
The city knew about the algal contamination for at least nine days before alerting residents to drink bottled water. The explanation offered to Palm Beach Post staff writer Wayne Washington, that officials could not alert the public until they received approval from the state Department of Health is not credible, no matter what rulebook the city goes by.
How does it make sense to let residents drink contaminated water for nine days while the city figures out what to do about it? Whose idea of best health practices is that?
Why would the city not issue at least a preliminary caution to residents, pending further investigation of the potential health threat? As a city water official, wouldn’t you want your family to stop using the water until it could be decontaminated? So why not our families?
Through regular testing, utility workers on May 3 detected low levels of the toxin cylindrospermopsin which, at higher levels, can cause stomach upsets, vomiting, diarrhea, and liver and kidney damage. Follow-up tests returned May 19 and May 27 came in at up to twice the threshold considered harmful for children, pregnant women, nursing mothers, people with liver or kidney conditions and others considered vulnerable.
But the city didn’t issue a health advisory notice until about 10 p.m. Friday, May 28. The explanation: The city wanted to do more tests and to get the right advisory wording from the state agency, Utilities Director Poonam Kalkat said. Her staff had reason to believe the city’s water treatment system was robust and refined enough to deal with potential problems posed by algal toxins, she told Washington. “In the past year, we have seen high levels of algal toxins coming into the plant, but they were removed through the treatment process.” Meanwhile, though, the utilities director either didn’t converse at all with her boss, the city administrator, or did converse with her but didn’t mention that the water supply that more than 125,000 in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach and South Palm Beach rely upon was tainted. City Administrator Faye Johnson also no idea about the contamination until May 28, a spokeswoman says.
How is it possible that, as the mayor insists, no one thought to tell him that his city’s water had dropped dangerously out of compliance with federal health standards? How is it possible that no one thought to tell the mayors of Palm Beach and South Palm Beach, to allow them to protect their residents? Having known for at least five years that such contamination could arise, how is it possible the city didn’t have an action plan, as they told our reporter –or at least a plan better than hoping for the best for nine days before letting the public know? “No one seemed to have a clear idea of what should be done next in terms of alerting the public,” Washington wrote based on emails obtained through a public records request.
Mayor Keith James is quick to say he jumped into action as soon as he knew of the problem. But what does it say of his administration, its procedures and internal communications, that a top department head wouldn’t alert him or his top administrator –her boss — of a major health threat, not for a few hours but for one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine days? The public is right to be infuriated.
Oblivious, they drank from a tainted water supply while bureaucrats bumbled. Whether proper procedures come though the work of a task force just thrown together by the mayor or through a Department of Health investigation, changes are needed.
As we’ve noted previously, this episode isn’t likely to be the last. In recent months, problems with impure water have beset Delray Beach and Riviera Beach. And from the Treasure Coast to the Lake Worth Lagoon, toxic green algae remains a threat, while fertilizer and other contaminants also leak into our region’s water supplies. Amid all this, local governments have the duty to protect our health competently and transparently. If the thought was not wanting to alarm us, well, we’re used to alerts, whether for hurricanes or water shortages or contamination. Do our leaders want us to trust them? Then trust us. Be straight with us.”
Read the editorial below: