Career Civil Servants and the Culture of Government is at the Heart of Flint Water Problems, Says Governor

Michigan Governor Throws Government Workers Under The Bus For Flint Disaster

January 22, 2016

The Huffington Post - Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) had no issue shouldering responsibility for the water crisis afflicting the city of Flint, Michigan, but not without also blaming his own employees.

"There were major failures here," Snyder said in an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Friday. "People being much too technical, not having the culture of asking common-sense questions."

Flint's water became poisoned with lead after the city switched its water source nearly two years ago.

Snyder said that he's accepted responsibility for the disaster and is now focused on fixing the problem.

Yet he did not shy away from condemning government workers who "made terrible decisions" in determining that the high levels of lead in Flint's water were not a concern.

"It's part of the problem with culture in government," Snyder said. "The department heads were not being given the right information by the 'experts.' These were career civil servants and had strong science, medical backgrounds. But as a practical matter, when you look at their conclusions, I wouldn't call them experts anymore." 

The Environmental Protection Agency's regional administrator, Susan Hedman, resigned on Thursday. She belonged to the team that oversaw state officials' handling of the crisis.

Nestlé is Taking Water From the Great Lakes and is Looking to Purchase Hoover Dam to Privatize the Water

Nestlé has made criminal deals with the government to take water from the Great Lakes at very little cost. This water is then used for bottled water or to be shipped to China. The U.S. Government is not morally fit to deal with this situation.



May 7, 2013 - Nestlé CEO Peter Brabeck has stated that water is not a right, but an exploitable resource and commodity that should be leveraged for money. Nestlé's unabashed greed in regards to witholding water from people is well documented, and Tyrel Ventura and Tabetha Wallace discuss it in the video clip above from Buzzsaw.

We need to stop the exportation of water from the Great Lakes to China

December 19, 2010

Ann Arbor News Letter to the Editor - This letter is in regards to NAFTA (North America Free Trade Agreement). The president is now pushing for free trade with South Korea, which I am totally against.

Take a look at how things are working out with China. They export numerous cheap items to our country tainted with toxic and cancer causing substances. It seems almost every month the FDA is recalling this junk including many items made for children.

One of the most toxic was drywall which contained sulfuric acid. Wy would you put sulfuric acid in drywall? Many people were sickened from it. Every day our ports are filled with imports from China. How many of these items make it to the consumer without being tested for toxic substances? How many boats are loaded with exports to China from the United States? I dare say, very few. Many jobs have been lost due to this one-sided trading.

The only thing they do import from us, which needs to be stopped, is water. China is the biggest consumer of Nestlé, which sells several brands of bottled water from a plant based in northern Michigan. When John Engler was governor of Michigan in 2001, he made an agreement with bottle water giant Nestlé, allowing them to open a plant in Mecosta County. They have pumped more than a 1/2 million gallons of water a day, drying up streams and ponds that feed the Great Lakes.

I had no idea this was going on and always thought the Great Lakes were sacred. We need to get this stopped now by writing our governor, Congressmen and senators. I have had it up to here with NAFTA, and China. There is NOTHING free trade about this agreement.

Coca-Cola and Nestlé Are Sucking Us Dry Without Our Even Knowing

March 2, 2014

Fool.com - The droughts currently ravaging California, which will likely send food prices soaring down the road, have highlighted the importance of available freshwater supplies. As 17 communities in California are within 60 days of running out of drinking water, the ability of companies like Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO  ) Nestlé (NASDAQOTH: NSRGY  ) to effectively privatize water supplies feels awfully disconcerting. While the rains that just began to fall out West may bring some measure of relief, the fact remains that the world is coming up hard against a water crisis.

In thirsty regions of the world, Coca-Cola and Nestlé have repeatedly clashed with communities over the perception that the companies were commandeering scarce water supplies at the expense of small farmers and poor villages. While both companies have deployed aggressive water conservation campaigns, with an understanding that water is an essential input to their businesses, Nestlé and Coca-Cola have long faced accusations that they suck vulnerable communities dry in pursuit of their profit motives.

Ireland Privatizes Its Municipal Water Systems

The Irish Government is slavering at the mouth at the prospect of a nice juicy fire sale of public assets. Under the NewERA plan, on September 29, 2011, the government announced details of "a new fund that will use the National Pension Reserve Fund to spur investment." According to the report: "In addition to the money transferred from the pension reserve fund into the new strategic fund, the Government will also look for matching commercial funding from private industry. A strategic bank is expected to follow, but not immediately."