Oil-black water flowed through the pipes of Crystal City, Texas, last week. That marks one more American city that cannot provide the most basic necessity of life. And as instances of government negligence like this proliferate, we continue to run to the government for help, instead of accountability.
Crystal City resident Nora Flores-Guerrero told reporters, “It looked like black sludge. They were comparing it to oil—that dark.”
And in the city of 7,500 people, the Washington Post has reported that every city official but one was facing criminal charges:
The mayor, mayor pro tempore, a council member and the city manager were arrested this month on sweeping bribery and conspiracy charges. And another member of the city council is in a federal detention center after he admitted to smuggling undocumented Mexican immigrants across the border.
None of those officials had given residents notice that they were flushing the city’s water tank, which officials later said “caused all sediments and deposits sitting on lower portion of tank to run through distribution lines.”
Crystal City is not the only place where people are looking for a clean drink of water.
Water trouble spread for the last two years in Flint, Mich. A class-action lawsuit claims that Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality violated federal law by failing to adequately treat the water supply, instead letting it erode iron water mains and lead service lines.
Even as lead leached into drinking and bathing water, residents like Rhonda Kelso were still paying taxes on the water: “You’re paying for poison. I’m paying for water that’s a toxic waste.”
Across the country in California, “water waste, gas leaks, poisoned water and foul air” in several cities triggered the ironic but understandable and typical response that in the face of a government-caused disaster, “everyday folks must appeal to larger governmental bodies for relief.” The appeal seems to be the usual response to government-caused disasters.
But the “larger governmental body” would be the Environmental Protection Agency, and on August 5, 2015, they were causing a disaster of their own: A deluge of 3,000,000 gallons of water laced with toxic heavy metal into the Animas River, Colo.
Then they shirked responsibility and got off scot-free, even though criminal prosecutions would likely have occurred if private parties had caused a spill a fraction of the size.
Harmful polluters should be held accountable. But we seem to have a double standard for how to treat those who negligently discharge polluted water, which is a criminal offense. If you work for the government, it’s OK. If you don’t work for the government, then tough luck: You’re going to prison. It isn’t fair, and it undermines respect for the legal system.
We can do better: Civil regulatory schemes incentivize good conduct without disproportionately punishing inadvertent mistakes. And of course, in the case of a government employee who engages in negligent conduct that results in harm, he or she could simply be fired.
Why appeal to “larger governmental bodies” if they behave just as negligently as private groups and individuals, but without suffering the consequences?
As Heritage Scholar Paul Larkin has previously written, “[i]t’s time for the government to choose: Either stop prosecuting private parties for negligence or make the senior [government] officials stand in the dock.”
