Richmond Free Press
A4 February 18-20, 2016
News
Use water filters to protect yourself Continued from A1
“Every water utility has been cheating about protecting people from lead poisoning and doing so with the approval of the Environmental Protection Agency,” Dr. Edwards said in a recent interview with the Free Press. What most people do not realize is that they can — and often do — have lead pipes carrying water to their home, he said. That’s likely true in Richmond for any home built before 1950 and possibly later, according to Robert Steidel, director of the city’s Department of Public Utilities. Lead was commonly used in water mains and service lines prior to World War II. DPU used galvanized iron in its mains and used smaller galvanized and lead pipes to link water meters to street mains, he said. He said DPU has replaced about 7,000 of the smaller lines between the meter and mains, but still has 14,000 more such lines to be replace. That still leaves untold thousands of homes with buried lead and galvanized iron lines that carry water from the meter into the home, Mr.
Steidel said. That began to change after 1950, when copper and, later, plastic replaced such potentially hazardous metal lines. Still, DPU has no idea what the service lines that carry water into homes, businesses, office buildings, churches or government offices are made of, he said. “DPU has no data” on the water lines that belong to customers, he said. He said that DPU makes every effort to prevent lead leaching into the water by treating Richmond’s water supply with zinc orthophosphate and controlling the water’s pH, a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of water. However, Dr. Edwards said there is no way DPU or any other utility can guarantee safety given the state of the older, buried service lines in use. “You can do a test one day and, the next day, pieces of rusting pipe can break off and bring lead in through the water,” he said. That is the risk in older homes where original service lines have never been replaced, he said, but are long past their useful life. He said he advocates using filters because he has a hard time trusting that government
agencies and scientists will rush to address a lead problem if a problem occurs. He speaks from experience. He repeatedly has battled government agencies and government scientists who issued reports seeking to rebut his findings of high lead levels in drinking water. In Flint, for example, he discovered high levels of lead in the water in April 2015 after residents sent samples from their homes. He said he had to fight the Michigan office of the EPA, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the Michigan Health Department to get the findings accepted. For months, he said the people “who are supposed to be trying to keep the public safe from this kind of threat” simply refused to accept the findings or rejected his results. He said he has become used to the response. He said the U.S. Centers for Disease Controls fought for four years to try to undermine his findings and disparage him after he determined that lead levels in drinking water in Washington, D.C., were as much as 100 times above the levels the EPA recommends as safe. It took repeated congressional hearings to force the CDC to finally admit that the agency’s
scientists had submitted five false scientific reports denying lead was a threat. Dr. Edwards said the same thing happened when he discovered high lead levels in water in Durham, N.C. He said just as in Flint, he and others had to fight to get the findings accepted. Dr. Edwards said such “institutional scientific misconduct is a new phenomenon. All of these instances involved scientists and engineers who were being paid to protect the public and who had no profit motive for poisoning kids, but who allowed it to go on.” “There are no checks and balances to their power and ability to falsify reports,” he continued. “There is no way to hold them accountable. It’s indefensible. “No one ever thought that government scientists would falsify reports or that public agencies would engage in the kind of misconduct that they have been proven to do.” He said that is why “no one in the public should believe the government when they say your water is safe. Lead is a problem they don’t want you to know about.”
Committee: Remove oak from Walker statue site Continued from A1
not gloat. “While we will be saddened to see the tree go, the point of the plaza is to honor the legacy of Mrs. Walker,” he said. “This decision means that Mrs. Walker’s image will be seen from 360 degrees so that those who come to the plaza will recognize her importance to the nation.” Meanwhile, Melvin Jones, an advocate for the statue and a member of the site committee, supported the tree’s removal. He said the
tree’s roots would be damaging to the planned plaza. Mariah Robinson, a Jackson Ward resident who led a petition drive to save the tree, could not be reached for comment. Mayor Dwight C. Jones, who had signed the petition and promised to save the tree, stated Wednesday through his press office that the site selection team’s “recommendation does not make the decision final as that will be done by the Planning Commission.” He said he would “continue to monitor this project as it works its way through the
process.” However, Mr. Mendez already was on board with the committee’s decision, apparently influenced by comments and concerns about the tree that were raised last month during a public meeting on the statue. Mr. Mendez said after Saturday’s vote that the tree would “not be included” in the preliminary designs for the sculpture and plaza that he and other design team members will present to the public 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, at the Richmond Public Library’s Main Branch in Downtown. The city Public Art Commission,
to which the Site Selection Team reports, is hosting the event. While the city Planning Commission will have the final say on Mr. Mendez’s design, it appears most likely that the commission will see only a treeless version. The Public Art Commission will send its recommendation, possibly by April, to the Planning Commission. The commission is expected to take its vote after the design goes through the Urban Design Committee and possibly the Commission of Architectural Review.
Video ban draws disappointment from Henrico Supervisors Continued from A1
ing football game against John Marshall High School, a predominately African-American school in Richmond. The Free Press was the first to report that the student who played the song was AfricanAmerican. Shortly after the incident, the student publicly apologized to the School Board and others. Dr. Perry said after the parent contacted Mr. Thornton VCU, he contacted Glen Allen High School Principal Gwen E. Miller, and they agreed to formulate a plan to “build a constructive program to address the issue and comprehensively show the consequences of using the n-word.” He said he showed the video several times to Ms. Miller, other Glen Allen High officials and school parents before they agreed to show it at the assemblies In a statement they jointly released Monday, the AfricanAmerican Policy Forum and National Association for Ethnic Studies blasted Henrico school officials for banning the video. “This censorship of material that highlights historical and present-day policies constitutes an alarming capitulation to those who would prefer our youth remain blissfully ignorant about the foundations of contemporary racial inequality,” stated Kimberlé Crenshaw, executive director of the African-American Policy Forum. “With the exception of the extraordinary actions of the Henrico County School District, the video has never been banned before,” the statement reads. In the apology issued Feb. 11 in a Henrico County Public Schools release, Dr. Kinlaw stated, “While we as educators do not object to difficult and constructive conversations about American history and racial discourse past and present, we understand why many people feel this video in particular was not the best way to deliver such an important lesson.”
Ms. Ogburn
Dr. Kinlaw
Rev. Cooper
Ms. Ogburn added, “In our community, while we do encourage open and frank discussions, perpetuating a racial divide, stereotypes or exclusion of any kind is not acceptable. “The Henrico School Board and administration,” she continued, “consider this to be a matter of grave concern. We are making every effort to respond to our community. It is our goal to prevent the recurrence of this type of event. School leaders have been instructed not to use the video in our schools. In addition, steps are being taken to prevent the use of racially divisive materials in the future. We do apologize to those who were offended and for the unintended impact on our community.” Dr. Perry, a 33-year-old Toledo, Ohio, native, said he has spoken across the country about racism and inequities to a diverse array of groups. He has shown the video numerous times with no threats to censure or ban it over concerns of offending anyone. He said the response among students at Glen Allen High was overwhelmingly positive. “The students who were coming up to me after the presentation were excited and thanking me,” he said, “and the vast majority said it was a constructive learning endeavor, and entertaining. It shows how shortsighted the School Board and administration are,” he said. “They are elected to oversee the comprehensive education of
Hillary and Bernie in Richmond
Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Above left, a former day care center in Downtown now houses Bernie Sanders’ area campaign office. Location: 217 W. Grace St. Inset: A note urges visitors to walk in. Above right, nothing outside tells visitors that Hillary Clinton’s area campaign office is inside this old school that now houses the Fulton Hill Studios. Location: 1000 Carlisle Ave. in the East End. Inset: Gov. Terry McAuliffe joins Clinton supporters last Friday to open the campaign office.
Continued from A1
to notify someone inside for entry or are escorted in. Inside, two “Hillary” campaign signs were posted on the first and second floors. None of the signs, however, offered directions to the campaign office. People in the Fulton Properties office on the second floor appeared irked when a Free Press visitor asked for directions to the Clinton campaign office. The campaign office door, which contained no signs, was locked at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday and the lights were off, raising
questions about how much the office is being used ahead of the primary. Such differences in the offices may not mean much to most voters. And Mrs. Clinton does have the advantage of being endorsed by many of Virginia’s elected Democratic officials. Many are stumping with her and for her. And Sen. Sanders’ campaign raised questions when it announced — and then pulled out of — an appearance this week at Virginia State University in Ettrick. No explanation has been offered. If Sen. Sanders is to overcome Mrs. Clinton’s Virginia advantage, he must
Kasich in RVA Republican John Kasich will seek to rev up his presidential campaign with a stop in Richmond on Monday, Feb. 22. The Ohio governor will hold a town hall meeting 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on the medical campus of Virginia Commonwealth University. Location: Egyptian Building Auditorium, 1224 E. Marshall St. recruit a lot of volunteers to help him, and his office location seems ready to make that happen.
the future leaders of the county, state and this nation and, instead of providing an opportunity for learning and having a meaningful dialogue, they have chosen to censor and ban the video.” Dr. Perry also criticized the Rev. Roscoe Cooper III, the lone African-American on the five-member Henrico School Board, for not publicly speaking out on the issue. Dr. Cooper has not responded to Free Press queries over the Glen Allen issue. “I think it’s very unfortunate,” Dr. Perry said, “that a leader of the community who shares the racial experiences that are not being taught in public education in Virginia and sits on the very board that was the first to ever censor a constructive video that was age appropriate to talk about racial inequality has said nothing publicly,” he said.
Scalia’s death sets up showdown Continued from A1
with black wool crepe in accordance with court tradition following a justice’s death. The court said his body will lie in repose at the Supreme Court building Friday, Feb. 19, before his funeral Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington on Saturday, Feb. 20. A number of leading Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, immediately said they would oppose any attempt by President Obama to nominate a new justice. The political battle lines sharpened later at the Republican presidential debate Saturday night in South Carolina, where frontrunner Donald Trump and several of his rivals said it should be up to President Obama’s successor to replace Justice Scalia. President Obama said at a news conference Tuesday that he intends to pick an indisputably qualified nominee for the Supreme Court and chided Senate Republicans for threatening to block him from filling the pivotal vacancy. He told senators he has a constitutional duty to nominate a new justice. He also reminded them of their constitutional obligation to “do their job” and vote to approve or reject his nominee. “The Constitution is pretty clear about what is supposed to happen now,” President Obama, a former constitutional law professor, said at the close of a two-day meeting with leaders from Southeast Asia. President Obama could tilt the balance of the nation’s highest court, which now consists of four conservatives and four liberals, if he is successful in pushing his nominee through the confirmation process. Meanwhile, ultraconservative talk show host Michael Savage, other right-wing pundits and some conspiracy theorists wondered if there might be something sinister behind Justice Scalia’s death after ranch owner John Poindexter said he was found dead with a pillow over his head. Judge Guevara decided no autopsy was needed after federal investigators found no evidence of foul play and Justice Scalia’s doctor confirmed his history of heart trouble and high blood pressure. Justice Scalia, who grew up in New Jersey and graduated from Harvard Law School, was a leader of the “originalist” ideology that looks at the U.S. Constitution through the lens of its framers’ 18th century intentions. He was the first Italian-American on the court and a devout Roman Catholic who had nine children. His replacement would be President Obama’s third appointment to the nine-justice court, which is set to decide its first major abortion case in nearly 10 years, as well as key cases on voting rights, affirmative action and immigration. Waiting for the next president to make a nomination would leave Justice Scalia’s seat empty for at least 11 months, an unprecedented gap in recent decades. It also leaves up in the air the fate of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, whose appeal of his conviction and sentence to two years in prison on corruption charges was to be taken up by the high court. He has remained free during the appeals process.