BRISTOL, Pa. (CBS) — It has been almost two weeks since a chemical leak endangered Philadelphia’s ingesting water, and there are nonetheless loads of unanswered questions on the way it occurred and whether or not anybody is being held accountable.
The Delaware Riverkeeper’s job is to be the voice of the river when one thing occurs that will assist or harm it.
What did she should say concerning the fallout from this leak?
When she heard 8,000-12,000 gallons of a liquid latex resolution had leaked into the Delaware River and endangered our ingesting water, she was decided to carry the accountable events accountable.
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So it by no means occurs once more.
“They have been giving such conflicting data to the group that it actually, at moments, was creating panic as a result of individuals did not know in the event that they have been ingesting contaminated water,” Maya Van Rossum stated.
Like the remainder of us, Van Rossum did not discover out concerning the latest chemical leak within the Delaware River till two days after it occurred.
Trinseo in Bucks County stated an tools failure was the reason for a chemical leak that threatened Philadelphia’s water provide. Exams have proven that the leak didn’t make it right into a water remedy plant.
CBS Information Philadelphia
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She says well timed, dependable data has been arduous to come back by ever since then.
“The knowledge that was popping out was very gentle data, it was complicated data, it was conflicting data. So individuals actually did not know what was happening and that was simply essentially fallacious,” Van Rossum advised CBS Information Philadelphia.
She begins with Trinseo, the manufacturing firm that oversaw the Bucks County chemical plant the place the leak began.
Trinseo has blamed the leak on “tools failure” however has declined to enter additional element about what precisely went fallacious.
“Proper now, the data that we’ve got appears to actually be supplied solely by Trinseo, as to what occurred, why it occurred, and whether or not or not it may occur once more,” Van Rossum stated. “And I actually need to guarantee that our state and federal companies are ensuring that we perceive what occurred.”
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To be clear, Van Rossum has no points with how the water division examined the ingesting water after the leak and deemed it to be secure.
The Delaware Riverkeeper needs to verify wildlife was not impacted by the chemical spill that threatened Philadelphia’s water provide in March. Testing has confirmed the water is secure to drink and bathe with.
CBS Information Philadelphia
However she questions whether or not any companies have been monitoring and testing the river because the spill to verify it did not harm the encircling ecosystems and native wildlife.
“Now we have Native American eel, we’ve got native mussels, we’ve got actually essential macro vertebrates, the little critters on the base of the meals chain, the fish that feed every little thing,” Van Rossum stated. “These have been all within the path of hurt, so how have they been impacted? One will solely know by means of acceptable monitoring and information assortment.”
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With Trinseo set to renew operations quickly, Van Rossum says she simply needs to verify there isn’t any potential for a repeat.
“I need to guarantee that our state and federal companies are doing the correct investigation to know and guarantee wer’re going to have the ability to maintain Trinseo accountable for the damages that they inflicted on the environment and the concern that they inflicted on our communities, and I am not assured about what’s occurring on that entrance,” Van Rossum stated.
We did attain out to a number of the companies Van Rossum talked about: the Coast Guard and Division of Environmental Safety in each Pennyslvania and New Jersey.
They usually’re engaged on facilitating interviews and gathering data to reply a few of our questions.
As quickly as we get these solutions, we’ll be sure you go them alongside to you.
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Ross DiMattei
Ross DiMattei involves Philadelphia from KTNV-TV in Las Vegas, the place he anchored and reported for greater than two years. He’s most happy with his interview with then-presidential candidate Joe Biden, intensive reporting on Las Vegas’ financial restoration from COVID-19, and breaking information protection of George Floyd protests in Las Vegas, for which he received a regional Emmy Award.
From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know!
This story was supported by a statehouse coverage grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
George Brinkley, who was recently released from the Delaware Department of Correction, said tablets provided by the state have helped him gain job skills and stay connected with his family. He was detained at the Community Corrections Treatment Center in Smyrna.
“It helps me communicate with my family because my family lives in Sussex County,” he said. “There’s a phone app that I can make a phone call anytime I need it.”
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DOC partnered with ViaPath Technologies earlier this year to provide all incarcerated individuals with tablets, more than 4,000 people. It’s an expansion of a pilot program that started in 2019 with a ratio of about one tablet per six people being held in prison.
Brinkley earned money inside the prison by working in the kitchen, and cleaning the administration offices and his living area, making $13.25 an hour. But those earnings go to fines, restitution and court fees, not him. So it fell on his family to give him money to access the paid features of the tablet. He said his girlfriend would send him money for the device.
“I just tell her to send me a few dollars,” he said. “Just to be able to send her a text message.”
A tablet given to incarcerated people in Delaware to connect with loved ones and access free and paid features. (Sarah Mueller/WHYY)
Community Corrections Treatment Center offers substance abuse treatment. The people incarcerated there don’t keep the wages they earn. But in Delaware’s other prisons, inmates earn just cents on the dollar for every hour they work, which means using the tablets can be expensive for them and their families.
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ViaPath is owned by private equity firm American Securities. It’s one of the nation’s largest prison telecom corporations. The company provided free tablets to people being held in confinement and provided the infrastructure. It makes money through charging for personal communication with loved ones, and access to sports, podcasts, news, games, movies and music. The costs range from three cents to five cents a minute. The tablets are not connected to the internet.
Delaware has agreed to corrective actions aligning with federal disability rights laws after a recent complaint claimed the state failed to provide medical equipment and support services to a person with disabilities so they could live at home.
File Photo by zeevveez/Flickr
Dec. 19 (UPI) — Delaware has agreed to better enforce federal disability rights laws after a recent complaint claimed the state failed to provide medical equipment and support services to a person with disabilities so they could live at home.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights announced the resolution agreement with Delaware, citing the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires services be provided in the most integrated setting appropriate to the person’s needs, including in their own home.
“Nursing home placement should never be the automatic option after a person with disabilities is discharged from a hospital. Alternatives, including returning the individual to their home, must first be considered,” said OCR Director Melanie Fontes Rainier.
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“States must ensure they support community-based placement and independent living to the fullest extent of the law, so people with disabilities are not denied the right to live in their homes and communities,” Rainier added.
In the agreement, Delaware’s Department of Health and Social Services vowed to complete assessments to identify the individual’s needs while providing specialty equipment, home modifications and personal support.
The state also agreed to facilitate the patient’s discharge from the nursing home to their modified family home, which was completed in October.
Going forward, Delaware will have to report monthly to OCR over the next nine months about how it is monitoring the patient’s home care and any potential issues that arise.
“Twenty-five years after the Supreme Court made these legal protections clear in Olmstead,” Rainier added, “OCR’s unwavering commitment to enforce these legal protections for individuals with disabilities is equally clear.”
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The Supreme Court’s 1999 decision found any unjustified segregation of people with disabilities is considered discrimination under the ADA.
This is OCR’s second Olmstead agreement this year to resolve a complaint about unnecessary institutional confinement.
This holiday season, the very last of one local family’s Christmas trees are being shaken, bundled and getting their fresh cuts.
After this Christmas Eve, the Poynter’s Tree Farm and ornament shop is closing for good.
The family behind the beloved holiday tradition says that they’ll miss their customers, but they say this is just the right time to say goodbye.
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Jeannie Wood and her father made their very first sale back in 1970 when Bob and Bonnie Poynter started the farm in Felton, Delaware, to help pay for their three daughters’ college dreams.
The farm became a tradition for many in Kent County and a way for the family to come back together every holiday season.
We’ve all been doing it for a long time so I think we are all ready to retire,” Wood told NBC10. My dad and I planted the first trees in 1967.”
When Bob Poynter died a few years ago followed by his wife Bonnie last summer, the family agreed that this year would be the last for the tree farm.
“It’s going to be different but I don’t know what it’s gonna be like because we’ve never experienced it. We’ve always been doing this,” Wood said.
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From the Christmas shop to the wreath workshop, it’s a bittersweet moment for the family and for their loyal customers.
Many of the customers come from a couple of hours away just to buy their tree at Poynter’s every year.
All of the trees that are ready for sale have been sold already. Before the family sells the land, they will have to decide what to do with all of the little trees that are still too small to be sold this year.
If you want to check out Poynter’s before they close, you have until Christmas Eve to shop for ornaments and nutcrackers.
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