Facts on Flint: 100,000 Affected by Poisoned Water
On January 16, President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency for the City of Flint, Michigan. The reasoning: more than 100,000 had been exposed to contaminated water from the Flint River over a period of two years. The state of emergency might give the impression that this problem is new to the people of Flint. The reality is that there have been complaints about the quality of the water since April of 2014.
In 2014, a “state appointed emergency manager was put in place” to save the state money, according to Yahoo News. One of the austerity measures taken was to switch Flint’s water source from Detroit to a cheaper alternative. The issue is that the new water system would not be ready until 2016 so the temporary solution was to get water from the Flint River, according to Rolling Stone. This is problematic due to the fact that the Flint River has eight times more chloride (a highly corrosive substance) than Detroit’s water, according to TIME magazine. Pairing this with old pipes that contain lead meant that the water running into Flint’s system was contaminated with levels of lead and other hazardous material. The water coming into Flint from Detroit was treated with anti-corrosion chemicals that, as TIME states, “essentially coated the pipes as water flowed through them.” This minimized the risk of any contamination.
The effects of lead contamination, specifically within children,are irreversible, according to The WHO. These effects include behavior problems, low IQ, hearing problems, growth delay, kidney dysfunction, memory loss and high blood pressure, as stated by Health line. Children in the developmental stages are at the highest risk, although adults also suffer permanent damage. The one and a half year exposure is enough to see serious health effects in Flint’s citizens.
So who is to blame? It depends on whom you ask. Many have called on Michigan Republican governor Rick Snyder to resign in the wake of what seems like ignorance and nonchalance about the problem. E-mails that Snyder released to the public reveal an administration that brushed off concerns from citizens and deflected any blame.
The main criticism is that the administration risked the health of citizens to save the state money. Additionally, requests had been repeatedly made to switch back to Detroit water due to health concerns as early as January of 2015. The appeals made to the State Emergency manager, whom was appointed by Rick Snyder’s administration, were denied. Rolling Stone revealed that Detroit offered to reconnect the pipelines for free, but this was also denied in order to save money.
Many also blame the EPA for standing idly by; according to NPR they knew of the problems as early as April 2015 but “those concerns weren’t made public”. This mis handling led to the resignation last week of a Top EPA official in the Midwest. President Barack Obama has also criticized the EPA, saying that they could have done more.
Focusing on the present, millions of bottles of water have been delivered by humanitarian organizations, NGOs, private donors, the federal government and others. Snyder has the National Guard present to help with the distribution. Snyder said last Tuesday that he was sorry and “will fix it.” The process of accountability and who is to blame begins now with “multiple class action lawsuits and investigations in place,” according to Yahoo News. Although the problem has come to the nation’s attention, the problems for Flint’s residents have just begun. Despite being the only ones in this mess who deserve no blame, it is clear that the Flint residents are the ones who will unfortunately suffer for years to come.