Most of the people in Jackson, Mississippi, the state capital, population 160,000, are without drinking, forcing the city school system to be put on virtual learning for lack of water; sewage is floating in sections of the city. The Pearl River, swollen by heavy rain, flooded into Jackson’s O.B. Curtis Water Treatment plant, which was already crippled, and overwhelmed its capacity to process or to treat water. The reason that a crisis of such proportions has occurred is that Jackson’s water treatment and waste treatment system have crumbled without replacement over more than two decades.
Jackson encapsulates the 40 years of deliberate neglect and devastation of America’s infrastructure base under the policy of “controlled disintegration.”
Jackson’s two water treatment plants—the 50 million gallon per day (mgd) O.B. Curtis plant, and the 25 mgd J.H. Fewell plant—underwent a compliance inspection by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Feb. 3-7, 2020. EPA’s 24-page report, entitled, “Safe Drinking Water Act Compliance Investigation,” was explosive:
“The City of Jackson’s water distribution system experiences numerous leaks and line breaks, with crews reportedly repairing 5 or 6 of these per day…. Loss of pressure associated with these incidents requires the city to issue ‘Boil Water Notices’ (BWNs); over 750 BWNs have been issued since 2016. The distribution lines are aging, and a master plan for pipe replacement issued by the city in 2013 is not being implemented. Instead, the city focuses on replacing those line segments that require 10 to 15 repairs per year.… The city estimated water loss rates in the distribution system of 40 to 50%. As a result of these issues, three local hospitals have drilled their own wells and left the city of Jackson’s water system in order to have access to reliable sources of drinking water.”
The EPA inspectors found the O.B. Curtis and J.H. Fewell water treatment plants understaffed, lacking competent workers. At the O.B. Curtis plant, wrote EPA, “the raw water screens were rehabilitated in 2014. EPA inspectors found them to be nonfunctional [in 2020], and operators said that they had been nonfunctional since 2017.” Further, after water is filtered in a water treatment plant, it is “disinfected with ultraviolet (UV) lamps and discharged from the UV reactors to a clean well.” The EPA report documented many instances when the UV lamps did not work and/or were offline.
Jackson water treatment pumping systems already ran into major problems in July of this year. The Pearl River flooding (the river reached flood stage on Aug. 29 and was expected to fall below flood stage by Sept. 1) merely detonated an existing problem. (https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-07/neic-civil-investigation-report_city-of-jackson-public-water-system.pdf)
Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba advised last week that Jackson would need $200 million to fix the city’s water system. SAMCO, a leading American water and wastewater plant manufacturer, reports that a standard new 200-1,000 gpm capacity raw water treatment system can be constructed at a cost of $975,000 to $3 million, depending upon water flow. It might be wise to consider constructing one 250 mgb plant to replace one of Jackson’s currently failing plants.
Mississippi’s budget to improve water systems is only $75 million for the entire state. The EPA has dangled the figure of $50 million, perhaps, for Mississippi water plant requirements.
The population of Jackson, Mississippi is 82.5% African-American. The Mississippi state legislature has demonstratively and repeatedly not advanced the necessary funds. The federal Congress has issued platitudes, not funds. On Aug 30, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said that repairs will take place in Jackson, but the city must pay half the cost, an absurdity in a city where many incomes are very low.
