Flint Sends Overdue Notices to Residents Who Aren’t Paying for Their Water, Which Is Poison

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Flint, Michigan, is sending out notices to residents who haven't been paying for their city water services. The notices say that services could be cut off if payment isn't received. This is a normal civic administrative practice except for one thing: Flint's water is so badly poisoned that the National Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency have been called in to manage the situation, which has left residents drinking bottled water that's being given out as an emergency measure.

In a matter that, remarkably, appears unrelated to the problems involving the toxic elements in the water, the city had been enjoined last year from sending overdue notices because of a lawsuit accusing it of raising service rates improperly. But with that restriction lifted, and after a break from issuing notices over the holidays, "officials say they will again start sending warnings to those behind on their bills," the MLive site reported Thursday.*

As MLive notes in dry fashion:

Some residents have expressed outrage over the fact they are being billed for water they cannot drink without filtration due to elevated lead levels found in water in some Flint homes.

Sounds about right.

Police in Flint also confirmed this week that a break-in was reported over the Christmas holiday at an office in City Hall where documents related to the water crisis were kept. "At this point it's hard to tell if any files were taken," the city's mayor says, but no other offices were apparently targeted by the burglary.

Federal authorities announced on Jan. 5 that they will investigate whether the water crisis, which you can read more about here, involved any criminal activity. As Daily Kos puts it, "It's probably just a coincidence that this break-in occurred in the mayor's suite, in the one office containing the documents relating to the lead poisoning of residents, with no other offices burglarized, just days before confirmation the federal government is officially investigating."

*Correction, Jan. 14, 2016: This post originally misstated that the first new overdue notices were being sent this week. Some were sent in November before a break in collections over the holidays, and more are being sent now.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/01/13/flint_sends_overdue_notices_for_water_payments.html


I'm so used to having abundant safe water (live in northern New England) that the ability to not turn on my faucet or have safe water just boggles my mind.

[niyad]

1. not to mention, having to pay high prices for the water that is being brought in (hey,

with the corporations like nestle, etc, privatizing water, does make one wonder. . . .)

[litlbilly]

2. Kind of why Dr. Burry from the Big Short only invests in water, He knows something.

[3catwoman3]

3. How the hell does Rick Snyder sleep at night?

Last edited Sat Jan 16, 2016, 03:38 PM - Edit history (1)

What a despicable person.

[alfredo]

8. Such things are of little concern to the psychopath.

[sulphurdunn]

10. Psycopaths always sleep well at night.

They have no conscience. Why wouldn't they?

[Fritz Walter]

16. He got the idea from Iran or China

In those countries, the government sends a "bullet fee" to the families of the prisoners they execute.

[Jeff Murdoch]

22. Yes, but there the lead poisoning has a more immediate effect. nt

[Tab]

4. If I couldn't use it, I wouldn't pay for it either.

Although that makes me wonder - if they're not using it, and if it's metered, why bother drawing any at all?

[Massacure]

5. I cannot speak for Flint, but ...

The city water department charges a fire protection fee, the amount of the fee being dependent on how big of a connection to the city water main you have. It's like $4 a month for a 3/4 inch connection, but industrial sites that have a 6 or 8 inch connection pay several hundred dollars a month.

[Marty McGraw]

14. Toilet Flush

watering vegitation and various rinse off's I would assume

[SCVDem]

6. To quote a famous rabbit!

You realize, (munch, munch, crunch), this means war! B. Bunny

[Vinca]

7. Residents should start suing the city for poisoning them.

[malaise]

9. Hope there's a class action law suit coming up

Asking the citizens to pay for poisoned water - WTFF?

[silvershadow]

11. Is it from the same illegal czars that are "running" the water works? nt

[Sherman A1]

12. I would keep all my receipts for water

That I had to buy and counter charge the city water company.

[Helen Borg]

13. Or else they'll cut off the poison!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

15. Wow, a classic Nixon Era burglary.

[HeartoftheMidwest]

20. DING DING DING.

Certainly the FBI/Justice Department is all over that.
And maybe it's just recent enough that there will be forensic evidence left behind.
( PLEASE oh please oh PLEASE..... )

[certainot]

17. these three michigan universities help snyder

19 limbaugh stations around michigan broadcast the sports of Michigan St. 11, Michigan 7, Western Michigan 1

the stations pay peanuts to broadcast games and the stations use the university mascots and community cred to elect shits like snyder and their privatization agenda. and that includes defunding and privatizing public ed! it's happening all over the country - 90 unis support 260 limbaugh stations the same way.

those same stations are probably working hard to attack his critics and keep him in office. if he was a democrat they would all be screaming in unison until the tea baggeroons got their pichforks and marched to the mansion.

most of those stations would probably have to go to other programming if the schools started honoring their own mission statements and declared they were going to look for apolitical alternatives.

a successful move by michiganders to push the schools to dump those stations would ensure many more democrats would be elected next november.

[Jack Rabbit]

18. Residents of Flint, stand firm and don't pay for your poisoned water

First, the Michigan emergency manager statute should be challenged in federal court and ruled unconstitutional. An emergency manager appointed by the governor is not consistent with the mandate of US Constitution that guarantees each state a "Republican form of government."

Next, the federal government should march federal troops into Michigan and restore a "Republican form of government." An emergency manager is not consistent with the US Constitution. The federal troops will restore power to elected officials whose power was seized by an emergency manager, including the City of Flint and the Detroit school district.

A criminal racketeering and conspiracy investigation shell be opened by the FBI to determine if any federal laws were broken in the appointment of any or all emergency managers by Governor Snyder starting in 2011 or in the seizure and disposal of public property by emergency manager.

Restitution shall be made to districts harmed under the statute.

Civil suits against Governor Snyder and his emergency managers shall be filed in state or federal court by affected district and residents, seeking damages for harm to public health or private individuals due to actions of the emergency mangers.

Let the American political revolution begin in earnest. Power to the people. America is democracy, not an oligarchy or a mere republic.
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[/center][font size="1"]From Wikipedia Commons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eugène_Delacroix_-_La_liberté_guidant_le_peuple.jpg)
(Public Domain)
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[oberliner]

19. Satire is dead

Reality is just that ridiculous.

[valerief]

21. Michigan has truly become third world, what with the lack of clean water, the

crazy-ass militias, unelected officials. When will our Congress talk about wanting to bomb them? Cuz we have a third world Congress, too.

(Apologies to anyone stuck in that horrible state with that horrible governor.)

[dembotoz]

23. did the notice say, cmon get the lead out and pay your bill????