Flint Crisis: The Crisis In Flint, Michigan

The current water crisis in Flint, Michigan stems from government officials changing water sources. The government of Flint switched from using the water of Lake Huron, which they had used for over 50 years, to using the water of the Flint River, which had a high level of chloride. The high chloride level eventually led to the corrosion of water pipes allowing unhealthy levels of chlorine and lead contamination. Additionally, irresponsible and unreliable water treatment allowed even more contaminates to enter the city’s water source. All this pollution ultimately ended up in the homes of thousands of people, poisoning families throughout the city. Lead poisoning can have disastrous effects on the human body, with some symptoms including “memory loss, anemia (lack of healthy red blood cells), kidney dysfunction, and in severe

All the inhabitants of Flint communities regardless of their location had irreversible, permanent brain damage due to lead-contaminated water. It started when traces of E. coli and total coliform were found in the Flint River. The city addressed this problem by increasing chlorine levels in the water, causing the pipes to corrode, releasing lead into the waters. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) were also formed in the water (they are carcinogenic to humans).TTHM is a disinfection byproduct that occur when chlorine interacts with organic matter in the water. At this stage, The lead levels in the water was 13,200 ppb. Water is considered hazardous waste at 5,000ppb (NPR 2016). This tragedy goes to show that this toxic runoff, or even the miss-handling of the water resources in a watershed can affect everyone as the downstream water was piped up into the upstream communities.

I watch or read the news pretty regularly, but I only watch news which has the traits that I value most. The news to me isn’t about being entertained, it is about learning, in an unbiased, clear, and concise way. Other television shows can entertain, but the news should be reserved for information relevant to people’s everyday lives, allowing them to make informed decisions. I feel this way because I don’t like when a news source is pushing a hidden agenda. I look for a fair telling of both sides of the story. I also feel that because I stay relatively busy, I think it is insulting that the news would choose to waste my time with extraneous background information, off topic statements, or articles over 1,000 words. Most importantly though, It needs to be clear, if I can’t understand it, it’s the worst kind of news, no news. I have chosen three articles regarding the Flint Michigan water crisis to evaluate based on my criteria. One from CNN titled, “Water Crisis in Flint, Michigan, Draws Federal Investigation,” written by Greg Botelho, Sarah Jorgenson, & Joseph Netto, which focuses on the investigation but also background into the crisis. The next article I have chosen an article from the New York Times (NYT). This article titled, “As Water Problems Grew, Officials Belittled Complaints From Flint.” From the contributions of writers, Julia Bosman, Monica Davey, & Mitch Smith. I chose this article from other ones, because this article primarily focuses on politics like who

The Flint water crisis has left no one from the damage, even the pets are getting sick of the poisoned water. That was what residents Lee and Ernie of Flint Michigan saw with their cat. Flint is a city in Michigan with a total population of approximately one hundred thousand residents. The issue with the water for Flints and its residents stated in 2014 when the city decided to switch from their water resource from the city of Detroit to a local river. Immediately after the switch residents filed complaints about the water’s smell and color. In Ryan Felton’s “Flint’s Water Crisis: What went wrong,” it is apparent that the crisis should not have happened, and that flint was neglected just because it was an impoverished city.

First of all, how did this happen? Well it happened when the State decided to save money, so they switched their water supply from Detroit (Lake Huron) to the Flint River. When the State did that, everyone noticed how discolored and smelly the water was. This happened because the state Department of Environmental Quality didn’t treat the water with anti-corrosive agents, so the water has iron and lead. This has been in the dark for eighteen months until a doctor named Hanna- Attisha finally took matter into her own hands. She kept getting patients complaining about hair loose and rashes that wouldn’t go away on their children’s skin. Attisha, also known as Dr. Mona, decided to look at the blood levels in toddlers before Flint Michigan’s water, and then looked at blood levels after it. She found that the

The lead effects in the drinking water have caused a massive public health crisis (“Scientific Opinion on the risks”, 2015). The whole crisis was as a result of poor management practices employed in the Flint water plant. The city decided to switch the

Many service lines leading into homes are leaching lead into the water. This problem happened because the city of Flint decided to not treat the water properly with corrosion control (Ganrin, 2016). This proves that officials did not care about those living in Flint. They chose to save money but instead they destroyed many lives. So this proves that our government is not there to help the people out, but instead to cut money wherever they feel necessary to not have to take it from other places. Lead poisoning can affect IQ and behavior. This can cause some people to become score low on standardized test and to become violent and to sometimes harm others. No level of lead is ever safe in any person or animal (Ganrin, 2016). The water source in Flint is currently undrinkable and very unsafe and will continue to be for months ahead ("Researcher: Flint water 'like Russian roulette'," 2016). Flint water is not a safe water source and has not been for many months. According to federal regulations Flint's water supply still does not meet standards. Since August 2015 the water supply has improved, but it still is not safe ("Researcher: Flint water 'like Russian roulette'," 2016). The people of Flint have been poisoned under their noses without even knowing it, secretly being sickened by their own government. Flint’s water is not safe it's an unreliable water

In April of 2014 Flint, Michigan started to get their water from the Flint River rather than the Detroit river that was formerly used as the main water source in hopes of saving money. The water being provided has been classified by Flint residents as smelly and murky and is avoided at all costs. It has also been discovered to cause damage to the lead pipes that transported it throughout the city. Children have been found to have high levels of lead in their blood and this may be the cause of an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease which has killed 10 people in the Flint area. People have also reported rashes from the dirty water. Video news interviews show residents holding water that is

In Flint Michigan studies show there was a large amount of lead in the water , because of this high turbidity in the water witch means this water is dangerous.

“In September, Virginia Tech researchers released a report saying Flint's water was creating a health threat in old homes that have lead pipes or pipes fused with lead solder. And doctors last week reported high levels of lead in local children's blood samples, also blaming water pipes” (CBSNEWS). Lead is a serious problem as it may cause a serious damage in different organs of the body especially the brain and it is the most known neurotoxin. However, knowing that lead is the source of the problem is an important piece of information which can facilitate reaching the source of lead leaching. In fact, many cities have lead pipes, not only Flint city, and when water sits in those pipes, the lead can leech into the water. So cities usually add corrosion-control chemicals, such as phosphates (PO4), to keep the lead out of the water. However, Flint did not take into account these precautions, and this was a major contributor to the high lead levels and, consequently, health problems, “the public health protection was gone,” Edwards says. (ALANA SEMUELS, 29 Jul. 2015). If we talked about the reason why the water in Flint’s River is difficult to treat, it turns out that it contains high levels of coliform and fecal coliform bacteria. But what makes it more difficult than Lake Huron water is that the Flint River is subject to temperature changes, rain events and high carbon content. An additional indication, is the increased level of trihalomethanes (TTHM), a byproduct of the large amount of chlorine needed to kill bacteria in the river water. For the most part, specific amounts of chlorine are used to treat river water, but the problem is that low levels of chlorine can produce coliform bacteria and, on the other hand, high levels of chlorine may result in Disinfectant Byproducts (DBP), which, in turn, may lead to elevated levels of

Flint Water Crisis, independent professionals reported testing the drinking water and what was found that there is lead and it was leaching into the main water supply. Contaminated water with lead and iron may be the most intense image of environmental and social injustice. Flint, Michigan, is amongst the poorest in the U.S. and majority African American, since 2014(npr.org 2016). The citizens of Flint had been complaining that their tap water was foul and discolored and had an odd taste. Nonetheless city, state, and federal officials ignored the issue. It has been stated that by changing the Flint water pipeline back to Lake Huron will not rectify the damage, investigators and many researchers believe that it may not be possible to ever undo

Leonard Pitts Jr. wrote an article about Flint, Michigan’s lead water out break. Complaining about hair loss (even in pets), nausea, and rashes. This happened in April and now in January it is becoming a big deal stated in the article. Flint switched their water supply to Flint River because it was cheaper. The river is filled with bacteria and chemicals. Leonard talks about doctors that are finding lead in little kids blood and that can lead to a lot of damages including brain damage, anti social behavior, and more. The city is very poor and this problem could have been taken care of if they just paid an extra 100$

Over the past few years, Flint, Michigan, has undergone a severe water crisis. The problem arose when the area’s water supply was changed to the Flint River. The problem, however, arose in the extreme amounts of lead in the water. While studies and tests were conducted by the government, no information was broadcast, and the general

The residents of Flint, Michigan had clear, drinkable water that anyone could use and drink, but the water started to become less and less consumable. Melisa Mays, a resident of Flint, claims that she broke out in rashes and developed a respiratory infection, which makes her cough up phlegm that taste like cleaning products. The Flint, Michigan Water Crisis began in April 2014, when the city of Flint changed their water source. Flint used to buy their water from Detroit, but due to the rising rates that were being charged for the water, Flint decided to switch its source to Karegnondi Water Authority (KWA), which created problems with Detroit (The Toxic Tap). Though Flint was changing its water source they had to wait due to pipeline construction, so Flint started using the Flint River as the primary source for municipal water until the pipeline construction was compete. The Flint River was not safe to use, which resulted in health problems in many of the residents of Flint, Michigan (The Water Quality). Though residents were being impacted, children were the ones who were exposed to greater dangers (Elevated Blood Lead Levels in Children Associated with the Flint Drinking Water Crisis).

The Flint water crisis broke newsstands around September 2015. A town exposed to a poisonous level of lead from the drinking water. This was followed by previous problems they have experienced since the switch of water sources in 2014, to save money. The history of the Flint water crisis is complicated and made so by small governmental agencies. The trial for this tragedy is still on going because of the lack of clarity. (Lin) In my opinion Governor Snyder is part to blame.