Biden: Mississippi governor 'has to act' on Jackson water

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — President Joe Biden said his administration has offered Mississippi “every single thing available” to address the water crisis that has gripped the state’s capital and called on the governor to fix the problems.

“We’ve offered every single thing available to Mississippi. The governor has to act. There’s money to deal with this problem. We’ve given them EPA. We’ve given them everything there is to offer,” Biden said late Thursday.

The president was asked whether he would visit Mississippi and said he had no plans to at this point. Biden said he has been talking to folks in Mississippi including the mayor, Democrat Chokwe Antar Lumumba. He did not specifically say whether he had spoken to the governor, Republican Tate Reeves.

Residents in Jackson have long struggled with a faulty water system that frequently requires them to boil their water before using it. They were already under a boil-water order before flooding from the Pearl River exacerbated long-standing problems at one of the city’s two water treatment plants this week, leaving many residents without any water at all.



Residents of the Golden Keys Senior Living apartments flock to a trailer full of water being delivered by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. A recent flood worsened Jackson's long standing water system problems. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/biden-mississippi-tate-reeves-jackson-climate-and-environment-6d11916f85a022e75e0a5d7b1ade49cc?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=TopNews&utm_campaign=position_4

[irisblue]

1. Telling a racist to cover the needs the POC of his state. Oh My

[tecelote]

14. Well put.

Biden's coming onto his own.

[CTyankee]

2. Mississippi goddamn...

[oldsoftie]

3. As the country ages, this is going to happen more often. We ignore aging systems.

I see it in my city; SO MANY water leaks but the crews work full time fixing them & it takes MONTHS to get even big leaks fixed. One outside my house leaked for 4 months; it was always "on the list". City probably lost thousands of gallons of clean water every month.

Nobody likes to spend on water pipes & drainage & electrical grids, etc; because its not "flashy". We better wake up!

[SharonClark]

4. Well said.

[Tommymac]

16. There is more then aging pipes to this story. Aging Racists. Jim Crow is still alive and thriving.

This is racist Jim Crow politics at it's 20th century worst. Denying water to folks of color, keeping them docile, while using the decaying infrastructure as an excuse. This could have been addressed years ago by the rethuglican authorities...but they simply did not want to.
The governor should be impeached and jailed.

The States Constitution needs to be thrown out a la reconstruction and redone totally.

Mississippi is an EMBARASSMENT to the USA while it is under Jim Crow rule.

Yes Virginia, there really is a devil.

[halfulglas]

5. This was bound to happen eventually, just gambled it would be on someone else's watch.

Previously the legislature would not even give the city permission to add an additional penny tax to address the water problem, probably with the mindset "Can't give that minority city government more tax money, it would be wasted." Reeves looks like a jackass to the country, but he might be okay with the racists in his own state.

[flying_wahini]

6. As long as the white neighborhoods aren't affected the POS Gov doesn't care.

If I were Biden I would pull so much funding from Mississippi he wouldn’t know what hit him.

[no_hypocrisy]

7. OMG, look at all these MS governors (Dems & Repubs) who kicked the can down the road.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_Mississippi

[Cozmo]

8. Hey Mississippi, hope you remember your current plight come November, It's up to ya'll

[Elessar Zappa]

9. Most of the people in Jackson

that are affected by this tragedy vote for Democrats. It’s the rest of the state that needs to wake up.

[peppertree]

10. Since most Jackson residents are black, Reeves would rather give up pork rinds than do something

Or moonshine.

[NullTuples]

11. Jackson, MS: 80% Black / MS Gov Reeves: 100% GOP

[llashram]

12. the majority victims of this

acute dangerous catastrophe are African-American. Tate Reeves gives less than a damn about these victims.

[Tommymac]

17. Jim Crow rises again. nt

[TygrBright]

13. Maybe time to send the Army Corps of Engineers...? n/t

[live love laugh]

15. Republicans: "If you don't vote for me fuck you."

[Bayard]

18. Infrastructure Bill

The nation has underinvested in water infrastructure for too long. Insufficient water infrastructure threatens America’s security, and it risks people’s health, jobs, peace of mind, and future prosperity. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law delivers more than $50 billion to EPA to improve our nation’s drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure - the single largest investment in water that the federal government has ever made.

Safe Drinking Water
$11.7 billion to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF).

$15 billion to the Drinking Water SRF for Lead Service Line Replacement.

$4 billion to the Drinking Water SRF for Emerging Contaminants.

$5 billion to Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Grants to address emerging contaminants.

Clean Water for Communities
$11.7 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund SRF.

$1 billion for the Clean Water SRF for Emerging Contaminants.

https://www.epa.gov/infrastructure/water-infrastructure-investments


Surely this state can get the funds to fix this problem if their governor and legislature would get on board.