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Water and Me

Category Archives: POLITICS

Water and the United Nations

11 Friday Aug 2017

Posted by Ronald Parks in Baltimore, POLITICS, water

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Baltimore, food&water, POLITICS, Public Works, Research, United Nations, water

August 9th I attended a meeting at Red Emma’s Bookstore in Baltimore. For some reason I thought they were going to try and start another “Free Water Movement”, which has happened in Baltimore before. But this was not the case. They talked about water being a human right and that the U.N. says so:

As can be seen in this flyer, the UN notes that water and sanitation services should not exceed 3% of a families income.

Here is the panel that spoke and the accompanying info from their FB page: Last night more than 160 Baltimoreans came to the Water for All: A Panel on Baltimore’s Water Affordability Crisis. Thank you to everyone who came, to our coalition partners and panelists who made this event so powerful and to Red Emma’s Bookstore Coffeehouse for hosting!
We look forward to working with everyone to ensure that everyone in our city has access to safe, affordable water!
Panelists will include:
-Delegate Mary Washington, 43rd District
-Eddie Conway, Producer, The Real News Network
-Komal Vaidya, Clinical Teaching Fellow with the Community Development Clinic, University of Baltimore
-Yvonne Wenger, Baltimore City and Social Services Reporter, The Baltimore Sun
-Zafar Shah, Attorney, Public Justice Center

And below is me in the crowd

Because I did not know a lot of the information presented, I went to the UN website and looked it up. It is a lot to read and decipher:  “The United Nations General Assembly passed and adopted the resolution on the human rights to water and sanitation on 17th December 2015.
• Everyone is entitled “to have access to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use”
• Everyone is entitled “to have physical and affordable access to sanitation, in all spheres of life, that is safe, hygienic, secure, and socially and culturally acceptable and that provides privacy and ensures dignity.” I also found other resolutions from 2002 and 2012.

The panelist talked about how people are losing their homes because they cannot afford their water bills (tax liens/sales) Rent, food and medication comes first. In Baltimore 2015 there were 5,301 water shut-offs. in 2016 there were 1,149. They did not explain the decrease in those numbers. One panelist brought up race and the affect this has on the Black Community. This affects everyone, not just blacks. These disproportionate numbers may come from their being more blacks in Baltimore? Population of Baltimore is 620,961 with 63% being black/African Americans. Which to me, brings up another point I was hoping to address but we ran out of time: If Baltimore’s Water Dept supplies water to 1.8 million people and only 600 thousand plus people live here – why aren’t the other peoples/counties carrying the brunt of these water bills? And the big corporations here should be paying more without those big tax write-offs!

So as not to only express problems, they offered a couple solutions. The one I wasn’t sure what they meant so I won’t bring it up, the other is a fairly good idea: Baltimore should create an income-based billing program. And along with that, no one should lose there home over their inability to pay a water bill.

The UN’s Universal Declaration of Human rights with Preamble and 30 Articles is a good read also.

You Decide

03 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by Ronald Parks in Baltimore, HISTORY, POLITICS

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Baltimore, Druid Hill, HISTORY, Museum, photography, Public Works, Rec and Parks

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Hands up, don’t shoot or a public shower?

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Early entrepreneur, ready to run for office or just some kid in a box on a flooded street?

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Good old days ice skating or the beginning of a race riot?

The negative comments I received after posting this last photo on Face Book was one of the many reasons I stopped using FB to post the museum archives. How in the world do you go from ‘The good old days’ ice skating at Druid Hill Park in the 1920s to ‘There’s a lot of racial tension here, look they’re carrying sticks’ to ‘it’s all Obama’s fault’!!??

The top two photos, although found in the DPW Museum Archives, I believe, are part of another collection, that the museum bought rights to use for one of its displays.

Scrap Booking DPW

20 Friday Jan 2017

Posted by Ronald Parks in Baltimore, HISTORY, POLITICS

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Baltimore, city council, HISTORY, inauguration, mayor, POLITICS, Public Works, Snow

Scanned some scrap books from the Museum Archives. Most of the good stuff is usually on the reverse side of what the person glued, taped, stapled, into the book. On occasion, I do find some interesting and/or noteworthy articles. These two were from a DPW scrapbook that looks like the director put together. Mostly, the book documents snow storms and traffic.

In light of today’s events, I found this one interesting. While Baltimore was being covered by a snowstorm, the Mayor and his staff were in Washington DC for what is referred to as the “Kennedy Festivities”. The VP of the City Council tried to reach the acting mayor, who also left the city for DC. The Director and other higher ups in the political food chain were sleeping. So Willie D (William Donald Schaefer) took matters into his own hands. Schaefer later became the City Council President, followed by becoming Mayor and then Governor of Maryland.

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On the same page as this was an interesting article from the News Post. The title is a little confusing – if I take these pills, will I like my boss or ‘be’ like my boss?? In any event, Nation of Librium, enjoy your day and your new boss.

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Fullerton WTP or Show Me The Money

11 Tuesday Oct 2016

Posted by Ronald Parks in Baltimore, POLITICS, Reservoir, water history

≈ 2 Comments

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Baltimore, engineering, FILTRATION, HISTORY, Montebello, POLITICS, Public Works, water history

I was asked last week about a new filtration plant to be built at Fullerton, Baltimore County. Here is what I found:

1955 – Dr. John C. Geyer, Consultant for Baltimore City, and Mr. Jerome B. Wolff, Consultant for Baltimore County Metropolitan District, having concluded their study of the entire distribution system submitted their report on July 1, 1955. According to the Fullerton Reservoir Study Preliminary Design Report of 2000, the 1955 Geyer-Wolff Report recommended purchasing a tract of land in the Fullerton area – which the City of Baltimore did purchase – for the future construction of a water treatment facility, a water storage reservoir, and a water pumping station.
1962 – On November 23, the sinking of shafts for the Fullerton Tunnel began. Both shafts were completed but no Fullerton Tunnel had been driven to date. (Project, Section #6 Susquehanna conduit) Tunnel completed for Fullerton in 1963.
1993 – Design of the Fullerton Pumping Station. PS completed in 1999
1997 – Design for Fullerton Reservoir
1999 – The design of the reservoir would be based on receiving 120 MGD from the future filtration plant. The study showed that the system could not support a 160 MGD reservoir. The reservoir was to be designed to elevation 226. The design proposed two reservoirs to be built, each with baffles. The reservoirs would have separate influent and effluent chlorination provided. As of December, 1999, the study was 75% completed. (Same report info in 2003)
2006 – A two year study began on May 2006. Approval was given to construct a pilot plant to test the operation of the membrane technology.
2007 – Reason contract on-hold is due to financial constraints caused by the artificial 9% rate cap; studies on the construction of the Fullerton Filtration Plant; continuation of the hypochlorite conversion project; and, the federal requirement to cover finished water reservoirs.
2008 – The draft of the Project Development Report for Fullerton, dated May 2008, was submitted for review and returned with comments. There were 4 alternatives in the review. As of October no method has been selected from the alternatives selected. Due to the economy at the time, the cost for each of these alternatives was in excess of $400M. The study had been extended to March 28, 2009. The cost proposal, received on June 23, was not accepted. The cost allocations to all concerned is still being worked on.
2009 – The Fullerton Filtration Plant construction had been delayed until 2017. If this project is ever resurrected, a new consultant agreement will need to be executed.
2010 – The contract for designing the facility could not be advertised until the cost allocation had been agreed upon.
2011 – The contract for designing the facility (Treatment Plant) could not be advertised until the cost allocation had been agreed upon. Also this year, repairs to the Montebello filters were initiated – “The filters were needed to be kept in service for another decade until the Fullerton Facility had been built and the new Montebello Facility was released for construction.” (New Montebello Filters never happened – Band-Aid after Band-Aid)
2012 – Fullerton Water Filtration Study: The contract for designing the facility could not be advertised until the cost allocation had been agreed upon. The Fullerton construction had been delayed originally until 2017. The Fullerton Reservoir would need to be constructed first. The design contract was expected to be released for bid in 2013 under the Fiscal Year 2014 budget, with a design completion date set for 2016. Construction was expected to begin in 2017 and was to be completed by 2021.
2014 – The Office of Environmental Compliance and Laboratory Services began gathering information in preparation of the contracts’ future pending design release. In 5-years the DPW of Baltimore expected the Fullerton Filtration Plant to be built and online thus clearing the path to fully renovate one of the two Plants at Montebello and shutting down operation of the second Montebello Plant.

Readers Digest version: The 100 year old Montebello Filters keeps being patched up while the City and Counties fight over who is going to pay what, for a new filter treatment plant at Fullerton. Status of Fullerton – it will be built, sometime in the future.

Trash Day

10 Tuesday May 2016

Posted by Ronald Parks in Baltimore, POLITICS

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Baltimore, engineering, garbage, Health, HISTORY, Public Works

The Mayor spent $10,000,000.00 (Ten Million) on new trash cans for Baltimore residents. This I imagine also included the cost for the new attachment for the trash trucks, to pick up these over-sized cans?  Her reasoning is good – help reduce the rat population and to help the workers, so they don’t hurt themselves lifting the old cans and bags.

On occasion I get home from work in time to see the trash men on my street. And what did I see? The trash men reaching into the new cans and pulling the trash out by hand. Why? Because it takes way too long to put the new can on the new attachment so the trash truck can do all the work!! Residents are still putting out bags and the old metal cans and the trash guys are still taking it.

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To Colorize or Not!

15 Tuesday Jun 2010

Posted by Ronald Parks in general, HISTORY, POLITICS, science, Uncategorized, water

≈ 3 Comments

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Baltimore, engineering, FILTRATION, HISTORY, POLITICS, science, water





When I first started scanning Lantern slides and glass plate negatives, I played around with my new scanner software and saw that I could add color to old photos. As I’ve been going through and cleaning out some old files, I came across the above pictures. When I first colored them I thought it was pretty neat that this could be done, now I’m not too sure if it should be? I really like the old B&W movies from when I was a child. When they started to colorize them, I thought, How odd is that? What do you think? The colors that I used were based on the old lithograph colors used in reports, to match those and not so much as what the colors should really be.

When the Borg first arrived

10 Monday May 2010

Posted by Ronald Parks in general, Health, HISTORY, POLITICS, science, Uncategorized, water

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April 16, 1957 – Letter: Very unusual letter written to the Bureau of Water Supply from a John M. Noon:

            Without [asservity] possibly ‘asperity’, animosity or acrimony, or reservation, I am writing you again about the Prudence and Elmtree site of reservoir…the work of the world is governed by cold hard facts…these men worked in very bad weather…curtailment of work now…I am of the belief the work will continue, not because of the Governor or the Mayor’s efforts to keep Maryland beautiful, but in spite of this fact.

            I would be in your office now…in my 70th year…unmarried and pensioned.

            Also I believe with Tolstoy, the Russian socialist and writer, that time rectifies evil and resistance is useless, because truth is inexorable and governed by laws of nature and conditions create problems that men must solve for his survival, not to mention, salvation. Christianity may have helped but it is not too much in evidence, as all the old evils still persist. If this work is finished, I must point out the four open holes…filled with water from the rains…children 3-16 roam this area and are endangered by this fact, be it accident or design, they are a menace…never ending brush fires. Fire apparatus are denied access…an accident could be disastrous, as all these war housing units have not the usual rubber insulation on the wiring.

            I am firmly convinced all the travail in this region stems from the same source, the attitude of the officials toward the area as being the jungles populated by backward hill people and “dumb pollocks”. They have their faults but neither makes it a practice to deny their children the right to a happy childhood, to fortified against the vicissitudes of existence when they must be self sustaining. These hill people are not particularly friendly to anyone, even their benefactors, or themselves…the parents are not at the moment, the concern, but to practically disenfranchise the youngsters to the point they will eventually become public charges or inmates of mental hospitals because of harassment, and neglect makes bad economics, if nothing else.

            Of course it is the law of the pack rat to rag the stranger. All the foreign born coming here at the turn of the century suffered this ignominy – – and one “bloody blooming Finny” son of a bitch who was with Kipling in Sudan in the 80s as linguist-interpreter, who had an American born son in 1888, who can get up on his one good leg and “give them hell” and it wasn’t Harrigan, it was me.

WATER POEM

26 Tuesday Jan 2010

Posted by Ronald Parks in general, Health, HISTORY, POLITICS, science, water

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FILTRATION, Health, science, water

A poem which appeared, under the signature of “Old Fashioned,”

in the Federalsburg “Times” 1956:

 This Business of our Water surely makes me think

Of “Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink.”

So said the Ancient Mariner; let’s do as he would do:

Let’s keep our water undefiled or what he says come true.

Our Water Works for many years provided fine, pure bubbles,

Then they put the chlorine in to give us stomach troubles.

Now Sodium Fluoride is good for teeth, they say,

They would put it in the water to stop our tooth decay,

But I have a  suggestion and my logic is correct;

Why not Citrate of Magnesia for medicinal effect?

Why Not Scotch or Bourbon  piped to every house and home

And in the heat of summer, nice cool beer with lots of foam ?

The danger, Friend, of puttin’ in is not knowing where to stop,

And I, an Ancient Mariner, would forget it, drop by drop.

For with water, water everywhere,  I  have  a  right  to think

What once was fine, pure wa­ter is no longer fit to drink.

Please Mister, make me happy; leave what I drink alone,

And when decay has got my teeth I’ll buy dentures of my own.

BRIBES OR GIFTS???

13 Tuesday Jan 2009

Posted by Ronald Parks in general, HISTORY, POLITICS, water

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Baltimore, engineering, FILTRATION, HISTORY, POLITICS, water

Here is another history folder that I recently documented that goes with the times:

 

1959 thru 1962 – File Folder No. 1497: Christmas gift letters. It is unbelievable what the water engineers received as Christmas gifts during their employment. This list only covers three years. There are business cards attached along with notes and delivery receipts. Received were: chocolates (Wright Contracting Co. and Newton Co.), diary (Consolidated Engineers), pencil holder (Ruth Engineering), liquor and hot dish holder (Brooklyn Engineering), ‘wet goods’ and ham (Frank Angelozzi), gift basket (Matricciani Co.), cooler (Arundel Corp.), fluid remembrance and flowers (RK&K), whiskey (San Joe Construction Co., Spiniello Constr., Forest Co., Lock Joint Pipe Co., Masonry Resurfacing and Constr. Co., RKK, Alpine Constr., Cohen and Ass., and Square Constr. Co.), liquor and cigars (Peters Co. twice, Iacoboni and Sons 2x), lighter and cigarette box (Gill-Simpson Electric), diary and travel guide (Woody of Kahn Electric Co.), good cheer “…it will do much to add to my enjoyment during the holidays.” (Woody), delicacies (Atherholt, Brinton and Glover 2x), subscription to Coronet magazine (Wilson and Sons), ham (Wright Contracting and Matz, Childs and associates 2x), coffee maker and liquor (Gill-Simpson Electric), pears (WRA 3x), executive record and travel guide (Woody), clock (Arundel Corp.), desk diary (AP Smith Mfgr.), pitcher (Panitz), ham and champagne (Matricciani 2x), pen (Ruth Engr.), basket of whiskey (Lock Joint 2x), desk caddy (Leopold), ham and liquor (Regester consultants), turkey (Matricciani and Forest Co.), book (Arundel Corp.), desk calendar (Smith Mfgr.), Fruit cake!! (Gray Concrete Pipe 2x!!), candy (Mercantile Safe Deposit and Trust 2x and RKK), subscription to the ‘Saturday Evening Post’ (Herman Born and Sons), atlas (Atherholt), carving set (Arundel Corp.), turkey and whiskey (Wright Contr.), Rancho Lynn apples (Smith-Blair Inc.), traveling clock (Arundel Corp.), ham and fluid remembrances (Wright Co.), monetary contribution to Bucknell University (Atherholt), monetary contribution to Catholic Charities, Community Chest, Red Cross and the Associated Jewish Charities (Kahn), floral centerpiece (RK&K), Franciscan dinnerware (Lock Joint Pipe), subscription to ‘Look’ magazine (Wilson and Sons), smoking set (Panitz), cocktail shaker (Foley), barometer (Arundel Corp.), Bodine book, ‘The Face of Maryland’ (Arundel), tray of hors d’vours (Panitz), cheese (Foley), Christmas decorations and spirits (Forest Co.), oranges and grapefruits (Breesee and Gray), guest for dinner and spirits (Masonry Resurfacing Const. Co.).

            December 21, 1962 letter from Schuerholz to Langenfelder and Son, Inc. returning a gift certificate in the amount of $100 to be used at Hamburger’s (Men’s clothing store). He writes, “…I do not feel justified in accepting a gift certificate of this magnitude. I am retaining the money clip in which it was delivered; this will serve as a remembrance of your thoughtfulness.” It was returned via registered mail.

            Side note: In January 2009, both Mayor Sheila Dixon and Councilwoman Holton were indicted on bribery charges stemming from them receiving gifts from a contractor.

FREE WATER MOVEMENT

29 Thursday May 2008

Posted by Ronald Parks in general, HISTORY, POLITICS, water

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FILTRATION, HISTORY, POLITICS, water

   While researching some early water history, I came across some information on a Free Water Movement in the United States. People thought at the time (1897), since we had such an abundance of pure drinking water, it should be given to the citizens for free. What caught my attention about this particular piece of history is the fact that the cost of water for the citizens of Baltimore just increased by 4%. Starting today (5/29/2008). This will be an increase of about $32/year per household. The surrounding counties who get their water from Baltimore, will in turn increase their cost. This will be between 4 and 7%. A brief summary of this movement can be found on my History page.

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