July 20, 2007
Scandals Continue to Plague WASA
When Thomas P. Jacobus, general manager of the aqueduct that provides water to the District, Arlington and Falls Church commented to the Post today, "Perhaps sometimes we don't do the best job we could of communicating," he summed up in a few words the main problem that has plagued the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority -- which delivers water from the Washington Aqueduct to customers -- over the last few years. And while it remains one of WASA's primary responsibilities to provide clean drinking water to the District's residents, it's not so much disturbing that they may sometimes fall short -- it's that they seem to have trouble telling us so.
Dating back to 1993, the District's independent water authority has had trouble communicating its troubles with its most important stakeholders -- city residents. That year, the EPA threatened the District with $5,000-a-day fines if residents were not warned to boil their water due to elevated levels of bacteria. The same happened in 1996. More recently, in 2004 the Post revealed that WASA and the EPA had withheld information on elevated levels of lead in the city's water, a problem that ultimately affected 23,000 homes. More recently, a fire at the historic Georgetown Library exposed that up to 10 percent of the District's 9,000 fire hydrants, which are maintained by WASA, were out of service. And just yesterday the Post reported that an environmental group had found that up to 40 percent of District taps might have elevated levels of toxic chlorine pollutants.
As we mentioned earlier, WASA is trying to assuage public fears, arguing that they have the problem under control. But just like with the lead and fire hydrants, WASA's inability to communicate with its customers has allowed the issue to blossom into a scandal. Whether or not the threat of chlorine in our water is truly serious or long-lasting isn't so much the issue -- it's that residents are left to their own devices to hope not.
The D.C. Council has recently considered putting WASA under the control of District CFO Natwar Gandhi, a moved opposed by WASA's leadership. While the issue is separate from these recent scandals, it does raise important questions about oversight of the water authority. Ultimately, if WASA is doing its best to ensure that the District's water is clean and safe to drink, they may only need a half-skilled spokesman and press team to ensure that residents know it. If not, well, then something more dramatic might be necessary.
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half-skilled spokesman, you say? ladies and gentlemen, i give you mr. tony snow
I would love it if just for once we could elect a mayor with the balls to say enough is enough and do a bit of housecleaning in a few of these incredibly corrupt, inefficient government agencies.
In a funny way, I have to thank WASA. Back in '93 and '96, they played an important part in a then-cresting meme that associated all things DC with massive incompetence. This was still in the Barry as Mayor-for-Life era, the city was headed for receivership, and the Control Board and our bow-tied, accountant geek/white knight, Mr. Williams, hadn't yet come onto the scene.
The water-scare was such that the immune-compromised, very young, and very old were told not to drink or brush their teeth with it. I remember in '93 the Federal buildings on The Hill were getting all their public water lines redone, but it would take over a decade longer for that service to be extended to the rest of the city. City Bikes was selling water bottles emblazened with Skull and Crossbones warnings. This came to a head in '97, when the DC was so broke (pun intended) that there was no city trash pick up for a couple of months in the summer. By the time the August heat came around, DC was truly ripe- for a change. Then came the receivership, and the control board, and a semblance of responsibility.
*But*- and here's my point- by then the city's stock had reached such a nadir that I was able to buy a house in Dupont for less than $100/sf. Thank you, '90's DC government workers. And thank you, WASA, for your small (but important) part.
Obviously we've come a long way since then. And I think it's obvious we're still getting better. Even today, though, in many neighborhoods there are bitter observations circulating about how the still-extant high level of crime function as a neighborhood stabilization tool of sorts. It's the dark corollary to Hillman's claim that "DC doesn't have an affordable housing problem, it has a crime problem."
Anyway, I just thought I'd share why today I'll raise a glass of DC's best and toast the original neighborhood stabilization tool- opaque, inept, and corrupt government. I imagine many people have a story like mine and that, like me, after all these years they still think twice before swallowing what's being served up.
Hey, do you think maybe it's safe enough that I can water my flowers with it?
The Environmental Working Group, over all, is not a trusted source of information for scientists. That's why this stuff blows up in the press. People working in those industries blow the EWG off because it's suspect data.