Demands for accountability following water contamination in West Baltimore
BALTIMORE -- Baltimore water officials are still searching for the cause of the E. coli contamination that left people in West Baltimore without safe, drinkable water for days.
Although officials insist the water is now safe to drink, not everyone in Sandtown-Winchester, the neighborhood at the heart of the scare, is so sure.
"I do not trust it right now. I'm not going to stand here in front of you and tell you I trust that water," said John Henderson who has lived in Baltimore for 65 years. "I don't think it's right, and a lot of other people don't think it's right."
The Baltimore City Council plans three hearings to get answers. The first is on Thursday at 1 p.m. with additional hearings on September 22 and September 29.
Some city council members have criticized what they call a lack of communication. Residents were not notified for two days after the first positive test.
Council member Eric Costello also noted maps that were not clear and left many wondering if they were impacted by the boil water advisory.
A father of two who lives in West Baltimore but declined to give his name told WJZ that he was disappointed in the city government.
"The people in charge, they know what's going on, so it's time for people to take accountability and get on top of things that other people were supposed to be on top of before they got in office," he said. "It's just time for somebody to make something happen."
Resident Billy Mason defended the Department of Public Works.
"The water department did what they needed to do. I don't think they mishandled anything," Mason said. "It was good that they found it when they did. They notified the people when they could, and that's the best they could do."
Many vulnerable seniors were especially hard hit by the lack of safe water.
"They could have done a lot better. But they didn't want to get in trouble," said Marshall as he sat outside the senior center on Baker Street. "They didn't want to alarm people because they didn't want the city to panic."
Mayor Brandon Scott has defended the response and insisted at a news conference Friday that "there was no bungling of communication."
He also said that "this wasn't something that DPW mismanaged."
"They found out the water had this in it because they did the testing," he said.
Jason Mitchell, the director of the Department of Public Works, said Friday that the city continues rigorous testing of the water supply.
As for finding the cause, "it definitely could be inconclusive," Mitchell said.
"It could be a multiple of things that happened—water main break," he said. "It could be a construction project that's outside of our utility. So it could be a hybrid of things, and we're going to do our best to look at the science and look at the data and try to figure out a conclusion."