City of Detroit resuming brutal policy of mass water shutoffs

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  • City of #Detroit resuming brutal policy of mass water shutoffs - World Socialist Web Site

    https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/04/05/detr-a05.html

    City of Detroit resuming brutal policy of mass water shutoffs
    By Debra Watson
    5 April 2018

    More than 17,000 Detroit households face having their water turned off as the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) resumes mass water service shutoffs to city homes this month. Since the Detroit municipal bankruptcy devastated city workers’ pensions and jobs in 2014, the DWSD has issued water shutoff notices to over 100,000 residences.

    Between 2014 and 2017 Detroit saw more than one in seven of its 677,000 residents lose access to running water.

    Because cold weather prohibits the smooth and cost-effective execution of water shutoffs, the annual culling waits for the spring thaw. Homrich Wrecking, a private contractor hired by the city to turn off water at the street, or rip out water connections when warranted, has just had their contract extended by the Detroit City Council to 2021, an indication that no one among the city’s officialdom expects this annual horror to end any time soon.

    #eau #pauvreté