Richmond Times-Dispatch columnist Michael Paul Williams tells the story like it is in his, “City should look at self, not FEMA.” Williams is on the money to try to keep the true story of the Battery Park flooding with its head above City Hall's political waters of denial. A lot of people know that sewer problem had been bubbling for decades.
“...FEMA didn’t place a landfill above a sewer line or fail to maintain that line -- even in the face of a dire warning two years ago when the remnants of Tropical Storm Gaston flooded Battery Park. FEMA did not cause the sinkhole in the landfill that collapsed the line.
“Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder has called on the federal and state governments to help Ernesto's victims rebuild their lives. ‘This administration has no liability at all for anything that occurred’ as a result of the storm, he said last Monday.
“The mayor would find folks on the North Side who don’t share his opinion. They say the city is liable, and that means Wilder’s administration, too. Gaston didn't occur on Wilder’s watch, but Ernesto did. And the Wilder administration had 20 months to address the pipeline issue."
Since 1985, in various formats, SLANT -- an independent voice based in Richmond's Fan District -- has offered its readers original commentary on politics and popular culture, including cartoons and selected sundries. Warning: Sometimes that means satirical content. All rights are reserved.
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