Federal Emergency Over The Michigan City Of Flint 's Lead Poisoned Water Crisis

The EPA provided action level for lead in drinking water as precautionary measures. The first one is flushing the pipes prior to drinking the water to run off the water that had accumulated lead because of sitting in the pipes for a while like six hours and

Who knew that Flints water could be deadly? Everyone should be allowed to have the same clean water to bathe in, drink, cook with, and to have fun in. Unfortunately, residents in Flint could not do this for quite some time. These residents were bathing and drinking from this water before the founding of high lead levels in it. Not only was it because of the high lead levels, but the pipes were very old as well. Due to actions made by the city council this caused a lot of problems for the residents in the city of Flint. This effected children, pregnant women, and the elderly the most. Many lawsuits were filed against the city of Flint. It was so serious to the point that Governor Snyder had to declare a state of emergency. This took place January 5th of 2016. High levels of lead in the water and old pipes lead to lawsuits, the sickness of Flint residents, and the city of Flint not doing their job.

After her family fell ill she contacted Mark Edwards. After Edwards conducted research he found 133 times the EPA lead limit. (Paynter 96-97) The author wrote, “The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality told Waiters the Problem was likely inside her house only” (Paynter 97). This shows that the government avoided a serious problem by telling Walters that the problem was in her home. This is while her family fell very ill and the Department of Environmental Quality completely ignored her concerns. However, not only do the people of Flint believe that the government has been absent through this crisis; so does Hillary Clinton, the Democratic representative for this year’s presidential election. When asked about the water crisis in an interview with James Comey, Clinton states that, “[Snyder] acted as though he didn’t really care.” This shows that even other politicians are dumbfounded by Governor Snyder's actions towards this. This statement did not stop others politicians to attack Snyder. Senator of Vermont Bernie Sanders did not hold back. He went as far as calling for his resignation.

On December 3rd, 2015, the mayor of Flint, MI Karen Weaver declared a state of emergency because of the high levels of lead in the water supply. Two weeks later President Obama directed FEMA to help provide equipment and resources to the citizens affected, including providing bottled water and local water stations around the city. On March 21st, 2016, Governor Rick Snyder came out with an outline that addresses the agencies goal to help fix the crisis. It focused on providing professional support for children under 6 with elevated lead levels, replacing water fixtures in public facilities, replacing the city’s 8,000 lead service lines, and increasing resources for schools. (Michigan.gov. 2017). Through April to July 2016, nine state officials and employees face criminal

An attempt to save money by changing water sources by an indifferent government caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, negative health effects, and a total loss in faith in the government of Michigan. Although measures have been taken to mitigate these problems, their effects have already marred the city of Flint and its

The contamination began in April 2014 after the source of the town’s water supply was switched from Lake Huron to the Flint river in order to reduce governmental costs. This was done despite the fact that the Flint River had a strong history of pollution. Among this pollution included car parts, a dead body, and high levels of chemicals. (Semules par 5). Once the pipes were switched there were several complaints of the water having a foul smell and metallic taste (Foley par 4). In the beggining the government denied that anything was wrong despite the fact that lab examinations of the water proved otherwise. Two years after the Flint water crisis gained media attention, the Senate passed a bill that would provide Flint residents with water, but this is

The year of 2016 has been the year of lawsuits for those afflicted with the Flint Water Crisis. Those being sued include the State of Michigan, Governor Snyder, the EPA, the City of Flint, Mayor Weaver, and many others.

Flint in Michigan is located 70 Miles away from the shores of large fresh water bodies, the Great Lakes. Despite this close proximity to the fresh water bodies, the residents have not been able to get the clean water. The water supply of Flint in Michigan in the United States has undergone serious water contamination crisis. The water crisis started in April 2014 (Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, 2016). The contamination of drinking water began when the source of water was changed from the treated Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to the Flint River. This later led to a serious contamination of the water due to lead contamination hence creating more danger in the public health. The Flint River had a corrosive nature and caused lead from the old pipes to leach into the water supply. This caused heavy metals in the water supply. This posed serious health problems. For example, six thousand to twelve thousand children were exposed to the contaminated water. The blood-lead level in children increased. The alteration in the water source was the main reason behind the water crisis in Flint.

In June of 2015, the EPA issued a memo regarding the high lead levels in Flint, which was responded with

There is a water crisis in Flint. An entire city of low-income people do not have access to fresh water. Many people have died as the result of consuming contaminated water. This is one of the worst public health crisis in American history. Many people claim that America does not have the $400 million needed to help the residents of Flint. However, this country has reportedly handed out $30 billion to Israel.

The state of Michigan is in a serious crisis! The governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder, seems to not care about the poor people of the state of Michigan. One of the state of Michigan’s urban school system, in the city of Detroit, is unhealthy, disorganized and is not equipped with the necessary supplies, equipment or resources to effectively or safely teach students. The water pipes in Flint, Michigan are filled with lead and citizens in Flint who drink, bathe, and cook with the municipal water have incurred lead poisoning.

Clean drinking water is a necessity in everybody’s life. Many cities take for granted their seemingly infinite amount of water available to them but for Flint, Michigan residents, there is no such luxury. Many people in that area have been sickened or even killed with the water that is available to them. Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan should resign due to the water crisis in Flint, Michigan because his negligence may have long and short term effects on the health of the city’s residents. There is no excuse for how he is handling this; slowly, and ineffectively.

There are two sides to this story, the government of Flint, MI and the people who reside

The government decision and policies, are the national guard has handled a water bottle and water filter has been distributed. The author Delaney said the problem came from when the Flint government pull the city’s water from the Flint River instead of buying it from Detroit's system. Flint resident start to complain after they have Flint River water that the water facet was brown; and it was tested bad ,and caused rashes when they took a shower.The CDC final report says that “ there is scant scientific evidence to suggest a direct connection between lead in drinking water and lead absorption into the body”. Regarding to the Washington Post Health and science article said wrote month after the Flint whater's crisis The Environments Protection Agency ( EPA) intervention, the agency used it;s emergency powers to demand action by the state and the city. It;s regional leader, Susan Hedman resigned. State and federal investigation are underway, and there have been calls for Snyder to resign. Snyder apologized twice and "precedent Obama has weighed in, too, sharply criticizing the pace of Mishigan's response. But none of that can help repair the deep of people trust in their government.

The Flint, Michigan water crisis has caused the nation to rethink if the water they drink is safe or not due to toxic substances such as lead posing a threat to drinking water. It leads to a nationwide investigation on the water system and most of them have failed to meet federal safety standards for lead and other harmful substances. Such crisis puts spotlights on government agencies responsible for tracking the water system and why they fail to protect the public from this crisis. The water infrastructure of the nation is old and worn out and fixing it would cost 30 billion to replace lead pipes and one trillion to upgrade the water mains.