Summary: What Went Wrong In Flint

As Doidge et al. illustrate, the historical background of Flint City’s drinking water supply emanated from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. This was through a contractual basis for over three decades, and its main source of water was Lake Huron. The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is an extensive system encompassing almost 1,080 square-miles, and provides to more than two fifths of the Michigan State population. In the year 2000 alone, the system covered 11,000 miles of water channels with a storage volume of about 360 million gallons. It supplied water to nearly four million people in Detroit and its metropolitan locale.

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.

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

When you think about the pinnacle city, the turning point in the Industrial Revolution, Flint, Michigan comes to mind. It was a city that perfectly encapsulated the American Dream and set the standard for the working class in America. Flint, Michigan was home to General Motors and at one point they were the driving force of the economy. However, that success was fleeting due to globalization and with many competing companies outsourcing, GM had to make many tough decisions that ultimately led to its downsize. When GM left Flint, the city was devastated and it’s exit contributed to the poverty we see now. The post-industrial era not only left the city in despair, but also left many things in questions, such as the large amounts of lead used during that era that has thus left the city more vulnerable. The current crisis in Flint is able to portray the damages of this ‘industrial legacy’ that has now affected their water. The Flint water crisis could have been avoided had they properly assessed the situation and went in with the proper tools. Just how they were able to assess and adjust laws to save people during the industrial revolution, Flint needs to implement the same changes. This case is able to illustrate the ways in which race and socioeconomic status intersect with one 's insurance to uphold human rights and environmental health.

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

In the initial report by the City of Flint, the city refers to the Flint Water Crisis as a “man-made disaster caused by the City switching to the Flint River as a water source in 2014.” Also, the report stated that Water Resource Centers, located around the city, would provide water filters, bottled water, and at-home water test kits free of charge to Flint residents. This statement shows the integrity, a characteristic of being ethical, of the City because the city took responsibility for the Crisis and followed through on the responsibility by providing goods and service free of cost to residents.

The people of Flint did not keep their mouths shut when they seen all the worrisome problems that popped up. Flint can thank one woman in particular for bringing the nation’s attention to what was happening. LeeAnne Walters is a thirty-seven year old mother of four who was not going to sit around while her family was withering away. She knew there was a serious problem not being dealt with in the summer of 2014. Her three-year-old twins got a rash when they had a bath. She could no longer leave them in the tub to soak. One of her twins had extreme reactions to the water. Gavin’s skin would become scaly and red where the water line stopped. Later her water turned brown and her family avoided tap water as much as possible. The twins got a bath in bottled water each week and bath with baby wipes the other days. Over time, the symptoms slowly disappeared (Lurie). Simple tasks like brushing their teeth, bathing, and cooking were incredibly complicated and expensive. Gavin and Garrett were not the only ones being affected. Her son had numerous trips to the hospital for abdominal pain, all the members of her family were losing hair, and at one point she lost her eyelashes. In January 2015, Flint declared that the city's water had dangerous levels of trihalomethanes. That came from the disinfectant that was supposed to treat the water. Exposure to these chemicals can cause liver, kidney, and nervous system

The Flint Water Crisis: What went wrong, article was written by Ryan Felton in January 16, 2016. The story of the article takes place in Flint, Michigan. The city of Flint experienced a crisis that has not been experienced in any other city across the nation. The article states that what happen in flint should not have happened, a city with 100,000 residents should not have to worry about poisoned water running into their homes. The water issue started when Flint appointed emergency manager Darnell Earley, decided to switch Flint’s water source form the city of Detroit to a local Flint River. This switched was aim to find a cheap alternative water source for the residents. However, what the officials failed to do was to test the water and see

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.

The problem of water in flint arose when the city changed the source of the water from Detroit to the Flint River in order to save money. This issue had several negative consequences on Flint citizens. The majority of these consequences is serious health problems especially for the infants and old people. In order to figure out the causes of this water issue and who made the decisions that lead eventually to those dreadful unpleasant outcomes.

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

When looking at why the flint water crisis happened you must simply looked to who in the state government was running the water authority in flint. While as many people, especially in Flint, expecting who they voted for in the state elections to be their leader, this just simply didn’t happened. Through the workings of the very complicated subject of state governments and different legislations that took away power from the locals in Flint and gave that power to the state government. For anyone living in the United States, their directly elected officials should have protected them and many people see this as a failure of direct democracies that cities should have. This taking away of power from voters and put it into a govern office in which

The situation in Flint was a completely avoidable tragedy, however, due to the secrecy of the state, its terrible decisions, and the DEQ completely ignoring a federal law, it happened. Flint will always be crippled by that terrible mistake that was made so nonchalantly by the DEQ and the state. The lead will always be in the pipes and will transfer into the water even if it’s completely clean. Those residents will turn out to have learning disabilities, behavioral issues, growth issues, and more because of the state’s the the DEQ’s inability to make the right decision. They had so many opportunities to stop this tragedy or at least make it less severe, each time they decided against it to try and help themselves. This terrible disaster could

The small “choice” made by Flint city council to save $1.5 million per year, has now turned into a situation with a bigger price tag. Some have estimated this disaster may cost up to, or over, $45 million to fix. Citizens throughout the city of Flint put their trust into their government. Now they have lead in their blood, and will lose community resources to make up for the costs of this outbreak. Abraham Lincoln once said “This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it.” The people of Flint are very upset and feel betrayed by the government. A large group of citizens are seeking arrests and other actions against government officials and agencies, including the governor himself.

In 1960s, Flint, the largest city of Michigan drove black people to the North End by restricting their freedom of movement. After half of century, Flint’s emergency managers announced that they had decided to use the polluted Flint River for a shortage of water supply. The reason why these preposterous administrative managements occurred is because of the government mismanagement based on environmental inequality and social injustice.