Nearly a month after the Environmental Working Group issued a disturbing report on the quality of America's drinking water, the DWP got around to defending itself publicly against being ranked 83rd among the 100 largest cities.
Leading the charge was DWP Commissioner Jonathan Parfrey, long-time director of the Green LA Coalition and a particpant with the Environmental Working Group in previous activities.
Parfrey's remarks, toeing the DWP party line, unequivocally repudiate the report and defend the quality of LA's water -- a betrayal of the environmental cause without engaging the actual issue.
The issue that the environmentalists raised was that there are hundreds of toxic chemicals in America's water supply -- 30 in LA's -- that show up in utility tests and many others that aren't tested for or have unknown toxic levels.
On "average," the DWP and other utilities meet federal standards but the study showed that sometimes toxic levels are exceeded and that the standards themselves are inadequate to protect the public health.
Parfrey and DWP officials don't engage those issues, choosing instead to repeat one after another that all health standards are met -- on average -- so you shouldn't be concerned about the safety of the water.
Eighteen months ago, I raised the same issue in pointing out that then DWP General Manager David Nahai said this in his annual report to customers: "Last year, all 200 billion gallons of water supplied to the 4 million residents of Los Angeles met or surpassed all health-based drinking water standards."
That is a false statement. all 200 billion gallons of water did not meet or surpass all standards. DWP tests show that there are times when some contaminants that are hazardous to health show up in amounts that exceed standards.
So why would a supposedly committed environmentalist like Parfrey and DWP officials whitewash the truth?
Ron Kaye
Ron wrote: "So why would a supposedly committed environmentalist like Parfrey and DWP officials whitewash the truth?"
That's a good question Ron. I would think he'd want to admit it's poor quality so he can say they need more staff (more union dues) and rate hikes to correct the problem. Perhaps he didn't consult with his boss (D'Arcy) before issuing his public opinion.
On the other hand, an admission of this problem might be an admission that DWP's income (from us) was not used for its state mandated purpose.
Freeman admits that when they test they find "tiny little things." Yeah, I suppose arsenic is a tiny little thing.
Perhaps each commissioner and Freeman should have been presented with a glass of tested tap water; told that those "tiny little things" are present and asked to drink it.
Let’s stick to the facts, folks, and I don’t mean commenters here but those screw-ups and liars at LADWP. First off, senior assistant GM McDaniel blatantly calls the Times article “incorrect” and says the water meets state and federal standards when it does not. This man should be fired. But he won’t be because the board of the DWP won’t do it and that’s because the board is corrupt and incompetent.
Things get really stinkeresting when Parfrey says “Talking about the great work this department is doing; it’s serving the highest quality… I was the director of a non-profit organization, a public health organization for 13 years. Part of my work was working with the Environmental Working Group, the very group that published this report on a number of contaminants, and I just want to let you know that I’m very proud of the work that the department is doing. I know that we’re by far we’re exceeding all the regulatory standards in providing safe and healthy drinking water to the public so, um, I just come from that background and I know that the kind of work that, that is done in environmental groups and the charge that was leveled against us was totally without standing so thank you…”
Things get really weird when LADWP general manager David Freeman contradicts poseur Parfrey: “It is true that we test and test and test and we find tiny little things that are troublesome and I don’t want to get overly defensive about the purity of our water because we do find these things and we can’t get rid of every tiny thing but the water has got impurities in it and some of the stuff that’s being said has some litany [sic]. Just because we test so much and find so much more doesn’t mean the water just came off a glacier… I rest my case.”
Okay; Freeman’s meandering blabber contradicts Professor Parfrey who has the temerity to dismiss EWG’s scientifically based findings just because he “knows.” The only thing we learn from this clip is that Freeman is an unrepentant (but semi-truthful) drunk and that Parfrey is a full of horse manure (and quite the boozer himself).
So here’s a possible answer to Ron’s question “So why would a supposedly committed environmentalist like Parfrey and DWP officials whitewash the truth?”
Ron: This man is not a committed environmentalist. He is a wise-cracking nitwit with ambitions of grandeur certainly not based on any qualifications. Parfrey’s hackneyed dismissal of the EWG report as “totally without standing” is beyond credulity coming from a rube that disdains documented facts while hiding behind this supposed veneer of being an environmentalist.
Though the good people in LA’s environmental community will be hesitant to criticize this unbridled nit-wit, it is well known he is only committed to furthering his political aims as a toady of Villaraigosa. With this latest betrayal of “Green LA,” this dawdling dolt should be shown the door at LADWP.
Though the EWG folks might demand Parfrey’s head for betraying them (and the truth about the water millions are drinking), the poseur won’t go easily into the night. It will take someone like you, Ron, to expose what a trite but dangerous phony this buffoon really is -- that is if the Weekly’s Jill Stewart or the Times’ David Zahniser doesn’t beat you to the punch first.
You hit the nail on the head Dylan. He's not an environmentalist. There's much to be gained, politically and financially, in this booming business.
He probably decided he has more to gain with his allegiance to DWP and this administration than through EWG.
I hope he made the wrong choice.
The City and the State may be rapidly heading toward bankruptcy but at least we are getting some great entertainment for our hard earned taxpayer dollars.
We should consider marketing these edited Commission and City Council videos to help us out of our budget woes.
An individual summed it up the best?
LA TIMES OPINION
Where are our leaders?
Re “Resolutions for legislators,” Column, Dec. 28
There are a great many Californians (and Angelenos) complaining that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa) spend too much time away from home.
The consensus is that this detrimentally affects the quality of their leadership.
Forgotten in all this is the fact that when you lack the skill, ability and brains to govern, it really doesn't matter where you are.
LA TIMES
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/letters/la-le-sunday3-2010jan03,0,2024953,full.story
You say, "Parfrey's remarks, toeing the DWP party line, unequivocally repudiate the report and defend the quality of LA's water -- a betrayal of the environmental cause without engaging the actual issue."
Is there any wonder??? THE LIES GET BOLDER AND BOLDER.
EXAMPLE: The depiction of quality of life in Los Angeles is a huge deception. And, it's going to get worse. Almost anything said my Mayor Villaraigosa is a deception.
PREDITION: Los Angeles will get more and more population dense, regardless of what the "activists" tell us about their successes in saving the city.
PREDITION: More and more "native" Americans will MOVE OUT of Los Angeles.
PREDITION: This leaves behind a vacuum for immigrants (ie. illegal alien, very poor, third world citizens) to fill the void by taking up residence in multi-unit housing, either apartments, condos, renting out a room, granny flats, or the like.
PREDITION: The L.A. City Council, with Paul Krekorian acquiescing, will enable more and more grossly "dense" housing developments, "to satisfy our growing housing demands".
The problem with high density development is that we are living in a desert with chronic water shortages and additional limits to our water supply.
Common sense should say, don't additional housing (don't add increased population) because we don't have enough water to support the current population (irregardless as to where the population comes from or their status).
Someone should stop the stupidity! I can't take it anymore.
Only on a blog could you take a joke a commissioner made about the GM drinking water, say "We KNOW what you're drinking", and turn that into Freeman and McDaniel being alcoholics!?
My PREDITION is that your voices will be lost in a sea of ridicule.
To STUPID COMMENTER: Don't fret. You'll be drinking recycled toilet water soon enough.
I'm curious as to which anonymous poster is stupid. I am anon 7:20 and I know for a fact we'll all be drinking recycled toilet water like they do in other countries.
I am so blown away by the stupidity that I read both here and on Mayor Sam, that I'm joining with the "aliens" to take over your city because I'm convinced you're all too stupid to do it.
Well, Anonymous on January 8, 2010 7:20 PM as well as Anonymous on January 8, 2010 7:33 PM:
Why don't you just admit that you're also named Parfrey, and agree that the DWP water supply is just as healthy as can be, without any toxins or carcinogens to speak of.
And while you're at it, why don't you just stick your head in a toilet bowl and join my dog in a nice, long, refreshing sip.
And while you're at it, say hello to the other "aliens" in the Mayor's staff room, who you so proudly join with.