Justice Department intervenes for struggling water system

— The Justice Department made a rare intervention Tuesday to try to bring improvements in the beleaguered water system in Mississippi’s capital city, which nearly collapsed in late summer and continues to struggle. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in the news release that the Justice Department is “taking action in federal court to address long-standing failures in the city of Jackson’s public drinking water system.” “The Department of Justice takes seriously its responsibility to keep the American people safe and to protect their civil rights,” Garland said. Edward “Ted” Henifin was appointed Tuesday as interim third-party manager of the Jackson water system and Water Sewer Business Administration, the city’s water billing department. Vangela M. Wade, president and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Justice, said the Justice Department announcement Tuesday is “an important and necessary move to ensure that residents of Jackson and surrounding communities have access to safe drinking water — a vital necessity for all communities to thrive.” “Unfortunately,” Wade said, “the deplorable and unsafe condition of Jackson’s water system didn’t happen overnight but stems from decades of neglect and the intentional disinvestment of resources for the majority-Black municipality.” ____ Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed from Washington.