Rep. Melissa Minor-Brown Challenges The Secrecy State

Delaware is the Secrecy State.  So much vital information is withheld from citizens who truly need to know. Citizens are often told that there is nothing to worry about, assertions generally presented without facts. Rep. Minor-Brown has challenged that notion. The first-term D was publicly skeptical and critical of the know-nothing DNREC officials who were dispatched to a public hearing to address the impact of the Croda chemical spill.  To paraphrase what she said: “Nobody knows anything. Can you send us somebody who perhaps knows something?” 

BTW, Croda has reimbursed the River and Bay Authority $150K for ‘lost revenue’.  And, despite initial denials that the community faced any hazards, Croda subsequently admitted that 5 employees sought medical attention, and they ‘quietly’ sent out letters to neighbors apprising them of this fact. But, of course, the company claimed that the community was ‘not at risk’.  Oh, and DNREC officials publicly know nothing. Just take their word for it. Environmental racism proceeds apace.  Here is information about the chemical that was released allegedly due to a ‘faulty gasket’. 2600 pounds of said chemical:

Ethylene oxide is a known carcinogen. Exposure to it can cause a slew of medical problems including skin rashes, breathing issues, gastrointestinal problems and, in severe cases of prolonged exposure, coma, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

It is also highly flammable and explosive.

Internationally, ethylene oxide is used as a fumigant and fungicide, to make ethylene glycol for antifreeze, to sterilize medical equipment and other consumer goods, and as a chemical intermediate, according to the CDC.

Minor-Brown would do well to focus on this like a laser beam. Her constituents deserve no less. It is long past time that DNREC’s genuflecting before even the most unrepentant polluters be challenged and changed. There are plenty of other agencies to carry the (tainted) water for these businesses, especially when the communities that they befoul are low-income communities.  Can DNREC simply protect the environmental quality for these communities? As we know, ‘can’ and ‘will’ are two different answers altogether.

But, I sorta digress.  This piece is generally about Rep. Minor-Brown, who I think is off to a tremendous start.  The Secrecy State is especially formidable when it comes to policing and corrections.  What passes for public information could just as easily be labeled ‘institutional cover-ups’.  Minor-Brown is the new chair of the House Corrections Committee, and, as this piece suggests, is sick and tired of these cover-ups. Not to mention inadequate health care:

“We need to figure out if this organization is able to provide quality health care to the people on the other side of those walls,” said Minor-Brown, a former nurse educator for Connections. “Right now, according to what I’m seeing, it’s not up to par.”

Perhaps unique among legislators, Minor-Brown is especially well-suited to address what’s going on in the corrections system in general, and in prison healthcare in particular. She even worked as a nurse educator for Connections, but is far from impressed by their performance. From her campaign bio:

Mimi answered her calling to serve over a decade ago. Mimi Graduated Cum Laude of her class, in both the Practical Nursing and a Registered Nurse degree program at Delaware Technical and Community College (DTCC). With a desire to serve first those who serve us, she launched her nursing career at the Department of Veterans Affairs VA Hospital in Elsmere Delaware.

A transformational leader, Melissa went on to achieve both her bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Nursing Science Executive Leadership at Wilmington University. After 7 years of service at the VA Hospital, Melissa turned her attention to where the need was greatest, the community. Taking on responsibilities working with Assertive Community Treatment Teams, before reaching down to serve the less fortunate as a state-wide nursing educator for the Department of Corrections.

Her well-earned skepticism regarding the lack of openness in all-things-corrections surfaces here. The issue is a recent death at the Sussex Correctional Center:

“If someone dies, we need to know what happened,” Minor-Brown said. “Transparency is so important.”

Ah, yes, transparency.  The ‘transparency’ that might have shed some light on what happened at Vaughn during that fateful uprising.  No cameras? No physical evidence? Gee, if I were a skeptic, I’d consider the possibility that transparency was the last thing that corrections officials wanted. The irony, of course, being that the institutional lack of transparency is the reason why those responsible for the the death of corrections officer Floyd will likely never be convicted.

Rep. Minor-Brown has already demonstrated the desire to address institutional lack of transparency.  She has already laid down a marker as one of the most important new legislators we’ve seen in some time.  Her commitment to following through will ultimately determine her legacy.