For the past two years, residents of Flint, Michigan having been living in fear. Fear of what? Water.
A few years ago, the city of Flint decided that in an attempt to save money, they would switch the city’s water supply from Lake Huron to the local Flint River. Seeing as the river has a reputation as dirty, residents initially did not think that the change was legitimate, but soon tap water began to appear…well, dirty.
The city was supposed to be pumping water from the Flint River into a newly built water plant for cleaning and then redistributed, but citizens continued complaining about the water’s smell and taste. In response to the city’s discontent, Mayor Walling insisted that the water was a safe and quality product.
Late summer 2014, bacteria was detected in the water and boil-water advisories were sent out throughout the city. In early 2015, Detroit offers to reconnect Flint to their water supply, but for some unfathomable reason that probably had to due with money, the emergency manager declined the offer. A month later, lead is found in the drinking water of a Flint resident’s home. Further investigation found lead appearing in the tap water all over town. In September, Marc Edwards of Virginia Tech reported that lead was leaching into the water supply from the pipes. However, the Department of Environmental Quality and other state regulators continued insisting that the water was safe, even after high levels of lead were found in the blood of tested residents.
By October 2015, city officials finally begin advising residents not to drink the tap water. Flint reconnected to Detroit’s water, but it was still advised not to use unfiltered tap water that they are paying for. It was not until January 5—not even a month ago—that Flint declared a state of emergency for all of Genesee County. Following this action, President Obama declared a state of emergency for the city on January 16, granting 5 million dollars in aid.
After two years of this tragedy, it seems that only now word is getting out about the crisis due to the health concerns the contaminated water is being proven to cause children. Though measures are beginning to be taken to fix this problem, one can’t help but wonder if the worst of the consequences could’ve been avoided by earlier media coverage. Around the country, churches and other organizations have begun raising money to support Flint’s water reform, but will it be enough?
President Obama has spoken out about the crisis, saying that the Michigan government has failed in its duty to protect public health, to which I cannot agree more. “What is inexplicable and inexcusable is once people figured out that there was a problem there, and that there was lead in the water, the notion that immediately families weren’t notified, things weren’t shout down. That shouldn’t happen anywhere.”
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