Midland is home to Dow Chemical, and their facilities are directly in the danger zone of this flood. They have implemented their flood preparedness plan, which I can only hope is incredibly...
Midland is home to Dow Chemical, and their facilities are directly in the danger zone of this flood. They have implemented their flood preparedness plan, which I can only hope is incredibly comprehensive otherwise this has the potential to be one of the worst environmental disasters Michigan has ever seen.
This also brings up another issue: how do we safely manage other disasters while COVID-19 is still a threat? The federal government's abysmal response to COVID-19 compounds with every other emergency, meaning every evacuation center is now a petri dish for new outbreaks. This will only get worse as the summer goes on and we get into hurricane, wildfire, and tornado season.
Oh man, my spouse used to work in the health and safety department at the headquarters of a large food manufacturer in the MidWest. They had some great preparedness plans for a number of...
Oh man, my spouse used to work in the health and safety department at the headquarters of a large food manufacturer in the MidWest. They had some great preparedness plans for a number of scenarios. The problem was that the people who were responsible for implementing the various pieces were ... let's say "unreliable."
For example, they had large quantities of hazardous chemicals used to make food. (That may sound odd, but it included chemicals to clean the machines, industrial quantities of alcohol and bleach, and stuff.) The person responsible for reporting issues to the EPA would try to send their quarterly reports that listed 0 issues. My spouse's boss had to repeatedly tell them that listing no issues is suspicious because it's basically impossible. They were required to report things like automotive oil run-off into municipal drains near their parking lot. It's not going to get anyone in trouble, but they need to track how much there is from all the businesses in the area to know whether it's going to be an issue. If you report nothing, and there's really something, you're setting the company up for huge liability should something eventually go wrong. But the person responsible didn't care. Every quarter there was another report showing absolutely 0 issues.
So I'm never too confident that even with a plan it will be executed correctly (or at all). Finger's crossed that Dow's employees are more responsible!
Worth noting that more than half of these dams, including the one that failed, are privately owned. I do not think it is a good thing that so much of our infrastructure is owned (and maintained)...
Worth noting that more than half of these dams, including the one that failed, are privately owned. I do not think it is a good thing that so much of our infrastructure is owned (and maintained) by unaccountable private entities.
Fukushima was in the same situation. Private profit chasing through cost cutting does not seem to mesh well with maintaining public/key infrastructure. I wonder if forcing infrastructure into a...
Fukushima was in the same situation. Private profit chasing through cost cutting does not seem to mesh well with maintaining public/key infrastructure. I wonder if forcing infrastructure into a non-profit business model would help.
Michigan is not unique among U.S. states with respect to neglected watercourse infrastructure: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/02/23/us/americas-aging-dams-are-in-need-of-repair.html It's...
Michigan is not unique among U.S. states with respect to neglected watercourse infrastructure:
It's part and parcel of the overall neglect that's been a hallmark of U.S. governance for the past 50 years. Despite all the gab about "shovel-ready" projects when government stimulus was discussed during the last recession, the long-term, multi-trillion dollar plan needed for repair and replacement never materialized. So now we've got climate change, dilapidation, and utilization growth all piling up. Congressional Democrats recently tabled a spending plan, but it's not enough and politically has nowhere to go.
The State of Michigan, by itself, has had long-running political problems with funding. Republican governors and legislatures have consistently blocked spending for the most basic infrastructure maintenance, to the point where our potholed roads are a national joke. Governor Whitmer (my latest pol crush!) has a plan for that, and yes, it involves raising taxes.
Flooding and rising lake levels have been causing major property damage statewide for the past year. The situation might focus center-right voters (who've been watching the waterfront bluffs crumble under their summer cottages) on exactly how much damage is traceable to Republican tax-slashing and consequent underfunding.
Edit: Also, roads, bridges, dams, the electrical grid, etc. are very dull topics for discourse and journalism. Until they aren't. Public inattention and lack of priorities are factors.
I don't think anyone here is proud of the roads. The state just needs to stop going with the lowest bidder for construction of roads; they need to lower the weight limit per axle for trucks, stop...
I don't think anyone here is proud of the roads. The state just needs to stop going with the lowest bidder for construction of roads; they need to lower the weight limit per axle for trucks, stop using salt, and they need to reallocate road funding dollars to the areas that need it most. The roads in the UP are fantastic and that's because they use sand and have more miles of roads, so they get more funding (even if the roads are used less).
The dioxane plume in Ann Arbor is, yet again, the fault of private industry making a huge mess and leaving it to the government to clean it up.
More details on the private ownership problems, for those interested. A public partnership was in the process of taking over the primary Edenville dam due to the owner's dereliction of recommended...
More details on the private ownership problems, for those interested. A public partnership was in the process of taking over the primary Edenville dam due to the owner's dereliction of recommended maintenance.
Midland is home to Dow Chemical, and their facilities are directly in the danger zone of this flood. They have implemented their flood preparedness plan, which I can only hope is incredibly comprehensive otherwise this has the potential to be one of the worst environmental disasters Michigan has ever seen.
This also brings up another issue: how do we safely manage other disasters while COVID-19 is still a threat? The federal government's abysmal response to COVID-19 compounds with every other emergency, meaning every evacuation center is now a petri dish for new outbreaks. This will only get worse as the summer goes on and we get into hurricane, wildfire, and tornado season.
Oh man, my spouse used to work in the health and safety department at the headquarters of a large food manufacturer in the MidWest. They had some great preparedness plans for a number of scenarios. The problem was that the people who were responsible for implementing the various pieces were ... let's say "unreliable."
For example, they had large quantities of hazardous chemicals used to make food. (That may sound odd, but it included chemicals to clean the machines, industrial quantities of alcohol and bleach, and stuff.) The person responsible for reporting issues to the EPA would try to send their quarterly reports that listed 0 issues. My spouse's boss had to repeatedly tell them that listing no issues is suspicious because it's basically impossible. They were required to report things like automotive oil run-off into municipal drains near their parking lot. It's not going to get anyone in trouble, but they need to track how much there is from all the businesses in the area to know whether it's going to be an issue. If you report nothing, and there's really something, you're setting the company up for huge liability should something eventually go wrong. But the person responsible didn't care. Every quarter there was another report showing absolutely 0 issues.
So I'm never too confident that even with a plan it will be executed correctly (or at all). Finger's crossed that Dow's employees are more responsible!
Dow's record with PFAS in Michigan does not fill me with hope.
Sounds like the US has a third world shithole problem /s
On a more serious note though, more infrastructure spending is a bipartisan opinion.
Unfortunately, considering Trump threatened to federally defund Michigan, where that infrastructure spending goes is very much a partisan issue.
Worth noting that more than half of these dams, including the one that failed, are privately owned. I do not think it is a good thing that so much of our infrastructure is owned (and maintained) by unaccountable private entities.
Fukushima was in the same situation. Private profit chasing through cost cutting does not seem to mesh well with maintaining public/key infrastructure. I wonder if forcing infrastructure into a non-profit business model would help.
TEPCO holds lots of blame for Fukushima, but the government holds equal amounts. We need much stricter regulation on safety infrastructure.
Michigan is not unique among U.S. states with respect to neglected watercourse infrastructure:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/02/23/us/americas-aging-dams-are-in-need-of-repair.html
It's part and parcel of the overall neglect that's been a hallmark of U.S. governance for the past 50 years. Despite all the gab about "shovel-ready" projects when government stimulus was discussed during the last recession, the long-term, multi-trillion dollar plan needed for repair and replacement never materialized. So now we've got climate change, dilapidation, and utilization growth all piling up. Congressional Democrats recently tabled a spending plan, but it's not enough and politically has nowhere to go.
The State of Michigan, by itself, has had long-running political problems with funding. Republican governors and legislatures have consistently blocked spending for the most basic infrastructure maintenance, to the point where our potholed roads are a national joke. Governor Whitmer (my latest pol crush!) has a plan for that, and yes, it involves raising taxes.
Flooding and rising lake levels have been causing major property damage statewide for the past year. The situation might focus center-right voters (who've been watching the waterfront bluffs crumble under their summer cottages) on exactly how much damage is traceable to Republican tax-slashing and consequent underfunding.
Edit: Also, roads, bridges, dams, the electrical grid, etc. are very dull topics for discourse and journalism. Until they aren't. Public inattention and lack of priorities are factors.
I don't think anyone here is proud of the roads. The state just needs to stop going with the lowest bidder for construction of roads; they need to lower the weight limit per axle for trucks, stop using salt, and they need to reallocate road funding dollars to the areas that need it most. The roads in the UP are fantastic and that's because they use sand and have more miles of roads, so they get more funding (even if the roads are used less).
The dioxane plume in Ann Arbor is, yet again, the fault of private industry making a huge mess and leaving it to the government to clean it up.
More details on the private ownership problems, for those interested. A public partnership was in the process of taking over the primary Edenville dam due to the owner's dereliction of recommended maintenance.
Wow.