Flint And The Industrial Era

Water is one of life’s most precious resources. Without it, life as we know it would cease to exist. Almost all life is dependent on water for survival. Humanity uses water in almost everything they do in their daily lives, whether that be for consumption or production. However water itself is not enough to sufice, clean water is required for life to thrive. Dirty untreated water can be the cause for death as well, so it is integral that water be kept clean. The government has enacted laws to ensure that our water is maintained and kept clean. These laws cover industries, plumbing, and sanitation among other things. Unfortunately, the city government in Flint Michigan willfully failed to provide safe water for its citizens.

The Flint River begins as a small groundwater seepage in Hapeville in west central Georgia. It travels down the state getting wider and deeper until it reaches its final destination, Lake Seminole. This river is 349 river miles long and has a watershed area of 8,460 square miles. Known to be very scenic, it is one of only forty rivers in the United States to flow more than 200 miles without man-made interference. The Flint River also is the home of a new species of fish, the Halloween Darter, which is only found in the Flint, Chattahoochee, and Apalachicola Rivers. There are three hydropower dams along the Flint: the Crisp County Power dam, the Flint River dam, and the Jim Woodruff dam. These dams create Lake Blackshear, Worth, and Seminole.

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.

An essential necessity for life is slowly killing residents in Michigan. The town of Flint, Michigan is slowly being poisoned by their water supply. Flint is 70 miles north of Detroit with a population of 98,310. According to the U.S. Census Bureau a little under half of residents live below the poverty line. More than fifty-five percent of the city’s population is African-American (CNN Library). The dangerous lead levels in the water went unnoticed for years, despite the residents’ complaints of discolored and foul-smelling water. The question at hand is how could this happen?

For Flint, it all began with debt. But you cannot blame a debt that has been developing over the years even though it led to major health concerns, hurt the already poor economy and left thousands with nothing but fear. Flint Michigan was an up incoming town back in the eighties. General Motors had its largest plant (at the time) in Flint and this plant brought much of the population while helping the economy grow. GM created many employment opportunities for Flint residents until they began to downsize in the late eighties. This is when the debt began to grow. GM held much of the economy at this time so the downsizing impacted everyone in Flint. As GM downsized the poverty rates increased, Flint’s government began looking for ways to make up the lost money. In 2011, Flint was 25 million dollars in debt and desperately looking for ways to reduce it (Dixon). The city of Flint was now under a state of emergency and people began asking questions. Governor Rick Snyder made the decision with his appointed members to switch Flint’s water supply from the Detroit Water System to Flint’s own river that ran through town. This switch was supposed to save the city of Flint nearly a hundred million dollars however, it did much more than that.

The Flint water crisis is an issue that has been plaguing the state of Michigan for over two years and has no feasible end in sight. The neglect of various government officials and employees has culminated in a public health danger for thousands of Michigan residents, by way of consumption of water with high levels of lead. Though the individuals deemed responsible for this deplorable situation have lost or resigned from their positions, and some criminal charges have been brought about, there is still a lot that has to be done to try and repair the damage that they did.

In “Flint’s Water Crises: What went wrong,” Ryan Felton appeals to logic to persuade his readers that the Flint Water Crises could have been prevented because he stated that “As early as October 2014, there were problematic signs.” These signs were when General Motors engine plant stopped using Flint’s water because the engines were becoming rusty. There were also some independent studies that showed that the water contained some compounds that can cause kidney or liver issues an example, “Tests also revealed elevated levels of chemical compounds in the water supply that can lead to liver or kidney issues.” yet, officials continued to reassure residents that the water was safe to drink. Studies continued to follow that shows the water headed

How would you feel if you’ve been poisoned and no one told you? Well that's what happened in Flint, Michigan during a change of water source it was discovered the water in the town has been contaminated for months with high amount of lead.

Even before this crisis, the people of Flint, Michigan were struggling. To fix this problem the government came up with the plan to end the purchases of drinking water from Detroit and join a country-wide system that supplied water from Lake Huron. Although, this system was not fully built yet, so in the meantime they turned to the Flint River to provide water for the city. The problem with taking water from the Flint River was that the water was corrosive and if the proper chemicals weren’t added, the water could cause damage (Durando, 2016). Since the water wasn’t properly treated or tested, that’s exactly what happened. The water caused lead from the pipes to drain into the city's drinking water, and it all went downhill from

With the upcoming presidential election, this year there is one very unnerving fact that has received overwhelming bipartisan recognition; America has a serious problem with infrastructure and something must be done. Across the country, dams, roads, sewage systems and bridges were built with Works Progress Administration funds in the 1930s. Seventy years later, they are in despair. As a nation, we must address Americas’ failing infrastructure and close the ever-increasing infrastructure deficit before the backbone of America crumbles right under our own two feet. To do so U.S. policymakers must act now to raise funds, without increasing our national debt. No intervention by the government will lead to a continuance of deteriorating the health

In addiction, in many cases when people human right’s is denied they use law as a tool to hold the perpetuators accountable and bring up changes. This is an issue addressed in the article “The Flint Disaster: Why doesn’t black health matter. The lead-poising disaster in Flint is not only a health public issue but it is also practice of discrimination in a community that its predominately black. While there are thousands of people including young children, whose health conditions are worsening because of the lead-poising they get from the water they drink everyday there has been little done to fix this problem. Meanwhile, because this is happening in a black community there less recognition put into the problem. The Flint water crisis is

The Detroit Water and Sewer Department shut off the water because people failed to pay their water bills (8). Detroit’s living conditions have been compared to those of developing countries more than to economically stable cities in the United States. There have been challenges to accessing affordable clean water and sanitary infrastructure for the poor in Detroit (8). Detroit’s black residents have become more isolated in segregated communities as the city has become more deindustrialized due to globalization and changing markets. The population has shrunk to less than 700,000 people and the majority (82%), of the residents are black (8). More than 40% of the residents there now live below the poverty line, and about half of them are unemployed (8). Public services have been cutoff, or withdrawn, such as emergency medics, firefighters, schools, public transit, and streetlights and the neighborhoods have suffered disproportionately. Stress caused by unsupportive environments contribute to long term health consequences and immune dysfunction, which lead to other health conditions such as mortality, cardiovascular and chronic disease (8). Improved social infrastructure starting with housing, and education, adequate water and sanitation, and health care are important to producing sustainable

Linda, I think your decision of agreeing to Dr. Flint’s deal is not good for you and your children’s future. No matter how much your grandmother, or anyone, try to convince Dr. Flint, there is no way will he ever sell you. He will continue to threaten you until you agree to his deal. He will also find different strategies to convince you to stay with him. How can you agree to the deal so carelessly? I do not want to see you get sexually abused by that cruel man. It hurts me to see that you are sacrificing yourself for the freedom of your children. What do you think the children will feel like without a mother? They will need your love and support. Without you, they may not be able to escape slavery. Do you want to stay with Dr. Flint for the

The population of Flint dropped from 200,000 in 2013 to 99,000 in 2014, while 41.5% of the population in Flint lives below the poverty line. Not only Flint has been influenced, in Detroit, which is the most famous industrial city in the world, now have 39.3% of its population lives below the poverty line (Lee). Under the trend of globalization, “workers have lost bargaining power” (Sorscher, 2014). Flint, the place where GM established, a famous industrial city, now became a place full of desperation, where no one would like to visit and live.

Flint didn't know the outcome on this, zestful sunny, day. All that he knew was that today was the day, the day that all the “Imperfects” were waiting for. The amazing day in Erikson, the amazing city where everything is perfect. Flint hated this! He was enraged by how much Erikson was “perfect”, he felt that the world had cast him and the “Imperfects” aside also labeling him as a nuisance, for being the leader of the “Imperfects”. While brooding about, the continent, Erikson his friend Karma entered the room.