There are a few things that our government does really well.
You never question medications you’re taking… When you pop Advil you don’t think twice that maybe it’s something else.
Similarly, while you may debate organic v. “conventional”, you’re pretty sure that food you get from the grocery store is not poisonous. We are actually very lucky in this sense. Many people in the world do not have these luxuries.
Yet up until recently, we had another given: safe tap water.
We require water to live. And it’s right there in the constitution: right to LIFE. So the people of Flint Michigan must be pretty outraged that their drinking water hasn’t been safe in years.
SO what are the facts here?
The problem began in 2014 when the water supply was switched. Officials did this to try to save money. Going in, officials kinda knew there were issues with the water. They tried to calm people down about it and decided to proceed and see what happened… Cool? Not really.
Almost immediately (the month following the switch) people began to complain about the color & smell of the water. Here’s a quick timeline to make it easy…
April 2014: they switched water sources.
May 2014: people began to complain about the smell and color of their tap water.
Aug. 2014: E. Coli, Coliform (from poop), and other toxic substances are found in water… They start to advise residents to boil water before drinking. They also added chlorine (ew).
Jan. 2015: turns out the chlorine created MORE issues with the water. State government starts handing out bottled water to all Flint residents.
Feb. 2015: Michigan radio reported that there was WAY too much lead in the average home in Flint. People start to report lead poisoning in children. Children guys 🙁
June 2015: it is discovered that Michigan resident LeeAnne Walters (and her four children) have 13,000ppb lead in there water… anything over 5,000ppb is considered “toxic waste” to the EPA… Yikes. Def should not be drinking or even bathing in that!
July 2015: a spokesperson from Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality said people should “relax” about the issue.
Aug. 2015: it was discovered that the DEQ tampered with the results of testing so they wouldn’t have to take action.
Sept. 2015: TONS of studies start popping up (Virginia Tech among others) proving that tons of kids have lead poisoning and there is way too much lead in the water. Among other issues.
Oct. 2015: the city finally comes up with an “action plan” and decides to start handing out water filters & retesting. Then finally decide to switch back to their original water source- yay. But this does not solve the problem.
Dec. 2015: the new Mayor, Karen Weaver, declares a state of emergency. DEQ officials start to resign…
Jan. 2016: Michigan Gov. Snyder & President Obama declare a state of emergency.
March 2016: Local government created an action plan for fixing the issue. This included medical assistance for any child under 6 and replacing water faucets.
April 2016: researchers prove that the water is still not safe to drink as pipes are still corroded.
Deaths & diseases:
In their water was 7x the amount of lead allowed. So obviously that caused some issues.
Legionnaires disease is a severe form of pneumonia. An outbreak of this disease occurred following the water switch. 87 cases were reported, resulting in 10 deaths.
Many residents have also reported losing their hair, dropping significant weight, and getting strange rashes.
The worst part, however, is the effect on children. Kids have more severe reactions to lead poisoning as they are smaller- the lead takes up a higher percentage of their body. They will suffer developmental issues such as: speech impediments, coordination & motor issues, stunted growth, attention deficits, and many other learning issues such as difficulty planning, organizing, and grasping concepts.
Other important details to note:
- 40% of the Flint population lives in poverty and is majority black. This demographic often faces discrimination and can have a tough time getting public officials to take action.
- So it wasn’t the water itself that causes lead poisoning. The water was corrosive and broke down metal in the pipes that caused the lead poisoning.
- We automatically think of water for drinking but what about bathing, swimming pools, pets, dish washer/ clothing washer, washing cars, cooking? It would be tough to use bottled or filtered water for ALL of these things.
- It takes years for the effects of lead poisoning to take effect. Therefore, we may not even know the toll of this issue until years from now.
The Safe Water Act
The Safe Drinking Water Act is a federal law that defends the American people’s right to clean drinking water. It sets standards for how clean the water needs to be to be safe etc. Michigan (and most states) have their own detailed version of this. Anyone who stood in the way of Flint’s residents having clean drinking water violated these laws.
Where it stands today:
We will watch as two corporations and nine officials undergo investigation and trial. They will all be charged with “misconduct in office,” “conspiracy,” and “willful neglect of duty,” some will face additional charges.
To date, the residents of Flint Michigan STILL do not have clean drinking water.
Did our government fail them?
Let me know your thoughts! xx
Antigone
Some videos if you’d like to learn more: