Thread by @iamsharpe

Rick Scott administration delayed notifying residents about tainted water, emails show miamiherald.com/news/state/flo…

On Nov. 5th & 6th — two months after the nearby Fire College was given bottled water by DEP — *some* nearby residents were notified that their well water was contaminated and not safe to drink.

Those notifications were supposed to be sent out the *FOLLOWING WEEK* but the deputy secretary of the Dept. of Health (who no longer has a job) and colleagues urged them to notify residents sooner.

An open house was scheduled for Oct. 16th to allow members of the community to ask questions and get information about what happened to their water ... It didn’t happen until Dec. 4 — *THREE MONTHS AFTER THE STATE KNEW THERE WAS A PROBLEM*

The Lawson’s, who were notified in early November immediately informed their neighbors that their well was contaminated and their water too could be dangerous to drink, while the state remained silent.

“I don’t think they care. They don’t want nobody knowing anything, and it’s scary”

Only after @samanthajgross and @elizabethrkoh began inquiring, did the state contact Ms. Flores. One month after notifying her neighbor who lived only 300 yards away, and three months after they knew there was a problem and began giving bottled water to the Fire College.

@samanthajgross @elizabethrkoh On Dec. 28th — nearly FIVE MONTHS after the state knew there was a problem — Ms. Flores received a letter stating that her water was contaminated, even more dangerous to drink than the water at the Fire College, who was notified nearly five months earlier.

“Other residents in the area say that — despite requirements that additional wells be tested — they did not hear for far longer if their wells had been tested or if the same chemicals had been found in their water.”

People who live in the area like Ms. Flores are concerned about the longterm effects on their health and the value of their property plummeting due to the contaminated ground water:

“My property’s value just went to crap... Not even the animals are supposed to drink it.”

Oh, and the state was basically telling people to keep poisoning themselves until they knew it was poison:

“According to scripts sent to health department employees, when residents ask about using alternative water until the test results come back, the employees are to say “no.”

“This absolutely crossed a line. It’s disregarding possible human health consequences for whatever reason,” Beitsch said. “To be doing it for reasons that are bad, like political process and elections, that would be intolerable, unacceptable and shouldn’t be permitted.”

How many people still haven’t been notified that they are drinking dangerous water?

What is the state doing?

No one knows.

Thanks to the reporting of @samanthajgross and @elizabethrkoh some people may discover that their water could be unsafe to drink, because the Rick Scott administration has failed to protect them.