Declaring the City of Jackson’s ongoing water crisis an immediate health threat, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves on Monday night issued an emergency order directing the state’s Emergency Management Agency to install an “Incident Command Center” at the city’s O. B. Curtis water treatment plant near the reservoir.
MEMA, in conjunction with the state Department of Health, will “begin operating tomorrow (Tuesday) morning to begin emergency maintenance and improvements,” Reeves said.
The timing of the order resulted from information that Curtis was operating well below capacity which could result in no water pressure for most of the city in coming days, Reeves said.
Neither of the plant’s primary pumps were currently operating, Reeves said, leaving only backup pumps. Additionally, “there have been too many cases of raw water from the reservoir being pushed through those pipes,” he said.
Dr. Daniel Edney, state health officer, said water testing conducted by the Mississippi State Health Department over the past month has determined the water currently provided by the city is unsafe.
“The water is not safe to drink or even brush your teeth with,” Edney said, adding that any use of tap water for cooking or consumption “needs to be fully boiled.”
Reeves avoided using the word “takeover” or directly criticizing Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba during the press conference.
“I’m not going to play Monday morning quarterback,” Reeves said when asked if he thought Lumumba and other city officials have been transparent about the severity of the problem.
Nor did Reeves directly criticize plant operators.
“There are existing operators who are knowledgeable, capable and competent. They have been doing heroic work,” Reeves said, but he added, “there just aren’t enough of them.”
Reeves said he wants to work cooperatively with the city to find long-term solutions.
Lumumba was not present at the conference, and Reeves said he had not talked with the mayor personally, but that MEMA officials did meet with the mayor earlier in the day. He said the the City of Jackson would be responsible for one half of the costs incurred by the state in addressing the problems, but also promised workers, “You will be paid — the state is owning that guarantee.”
Reeves said until the state sets up base at Curtis he could give no timetable on when the problems may be fixed. Until then MEMA will also be providing bottled water for the city’s roughly 160,000 citizens, as well as those in Byram who depend on Jackson’s water.
“This will be a massively complicated task. We have the best possible leaders, but it will still not be easy,” Reeves said.
Steve McCraney, Executive Director of MEMA, said the bottled water will initially be provided at the city’s fire stations, with an expansion to other sites anticipated later.
Non-potable water, unsuitable for drinking but adequate for flushing toilets and some other uses will also be made available, he said.
“We have 38,000 bottles in storage and additional 18-wheelers on the way,” McCraney said.
Up to 4,500 National Guardsmen will be assisting MEMA with the water distribution efforts, he said.
In additional to the Curtis plant that is designed to treat up to 50 million gallons of water per day, the city also operates the older Fewell plant near Belhaven which is designed to produce 20 million gallons per day.
Additionally, some southwest area residents are served by a separate city-owned well water system, which has also experienced pressure problems. Health Department officials said they would be looking at problems at all three of the facilities.
Asked whether he would be heeding advice from some Jackson area lawmakers who have asked the governor to call a special session of the Legislature to address the water problems, Reeves said, “I appreciate their concern but right now we have to focus on the immediate crisis.”
To the citizens of Jackson, Reeves said, “Don’t panic — we are going to be there for you.”
The water crisis rippled through Jackson’s schools and universities.
Jackson Public Schools announced Monday afternoon that they were set to go online only Tuesday after two of its schools had moved to remote learning Monday. Jackson State University’s Twitter account announced it would pivot to virtual instruction for the remainder of the week. Belhaven University announced late Monday all in-person classes were canceled Tuesday. Millsaps and Tougaloo had not made public announcements late Monday.
Reeves said he was concerned for the students who faced virtual learning.
