WaterNews: February 24, 2022

Risky Drinking Water Pathogen Has Outsized Effect on Black Americans

A respiratory illness linked to bacteria that grow in building plumbing and water distribution pipes is exhibiting more pronounced geographic, seasonal, and racial patterns, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis of nearly three decades of case data.

Researchers knew that Legionnaires’ disease, an illness resembling pneumonia, peaks in the summer, affects older people, and is most prevalent in the United States in the swathe of land that stretches from the Midwest to New England. The CDC’s analysis confirmed that those trends are strengthening. But what stood out most to Albert Barskey, the lead author of the study, were racial outcomes.

Cases among Black Americans, when adjusted for age and population, were about 25 percent higher than among white Americans. And that gap, one of many environmental health risks with a racial divide, was growing.

Line 5’s Impact on Climate Change Being Reviewed as Part of Tunnel Decision

The Michigan Public Service Commission is best known as the government body that decides whether gas and electric utilities can raise their rates.

But, the commission has other duties. Right now, it’s looking at whether Enbridge Energy’s plans to move a segment of its Line 5 oil and liquid natural gasses pipeline into a tunnel is safe.

In an unusual move, the commission is also reviewing what keeping Line 5 operating means for climate change.

Environmental groups, some businesses, Native American tribes and Governor Gretchen Whitmer, among others, want the nearly 70 year old Line 5 pipeline shut down. Line 5 sits on the lakebed of the Straits of Mackinac which connects Lakes Michigan and Huron. Advocates are worried about the risk of an oil spill in the lakes.

This story was originally published by Michigan Radio as part of the Great Lakes News Collaborative, which aims to elevate discussion and amplify the voice of Great Lakes residents and produce action that protects the region’s waters for future generations.

What’s Up With Water – February 22, 2022

For the news you need to start the week, tune into “What’s Up With Water” fresh on Monday’s on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, i Heart Radio, and SoundCloud.

Featured coverage from this week's episode of What's Up With Water looks at:

In the United States, a new study calls the megadrought in the Southwest the worst the region has seen in the last 1,200 years. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles also noted that the severity of the two-decade-long dry stretch is due, in large part, to the release of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere.

The drought situation is even worse in the Horn of Africa, where the UN’s World Food Program warns that 13 million people are facing acute hunger. Most of those at risk live in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. Al Jazeera reports that crops and livestock are dying due to three consecutive failed rainy seasons.

This week Circle of Blue reports on the huge water infrastructure investments being made by state and local governments, thanks to billions of dollars in federal pandemic relief funds.