Thank god they are in PR to help get clean water to the people. SOMEONE HAS TO DO IT. Why are we stuck with this imbecile? Repubs will be vilified for not holding him and themselves accountable. The silence on important issues, life and death issues, the need for water, is deafening.

Out to the communities. They deliver it from mainland through the port of entry to the hands of the residents.

The Army article precisely says that's not what happened in Anahuac (which isn't Houston, but then against Newark's part of New York City, right?). The Army flew it to the airport. There, the article points out, the locals were responsible for the rest of the trip.

In other words, the military did the kind of relief it usually does.

I can find justification for the military's doing this in PR, but this doesn't seem relevant to me.

Right after Ike there were military helping National Guard set up PODs in Houston and even staff them, but that was 3-4 days after Ike. A day or two later the locals mobilized to take over.

I know the location was only identified as a Superfund clean-up site in 2016, but why didn't the EPA's Superfund maps go to the local water authority immediately, so they would be aware that the well in that location was seriously contaminated?
Even if the utility offices were destroyed or out of commission, the utility personnel should have been aware that location was toxic. And the regional FEMA coordinators should have been aware of it also. That's part of planning for emergencies - knowing where the already identified toxic waste areas are so that when things get out of hand, there's not going to be any nasty surprises while trying to cope with disasters.

Haele

The local government authorities would have known and should have distributed the info downstream.

The local water authority is government owned. The regional FEMA coordinators weren't responsible for the water authority's identifying that as a potential source, or even for vetting it.