In the CNN article “How Tap Water Became Toxic in Flint, Michigan”, by Sara Ganim and Linh Tran, the write about how water became infected with lead in Flint, Michigan. In 2014, the city of Flint, Michigan, decided to cut the water supply of the city from Lake Huron to The Flint River. The city did this in order for the state to build a new supply line from the lake. When the water started coming in from the river, residents reported that it looked brown. It was discovered that the state DEQ wasn’t treating the water with an anti corrosive agent, and since the water from the river is 19 times dirtier than the water of the lake, the water corroded the metal of the pipes, putting it in the water.…
In “Lead Contamination in Flint - An Abject Failure to Protect Public Health” David Bellinger examines the impact Flint’s contaminated water has and will continue to have on its population, primarily the children. In 2014, executives from the Flint Water Treatment Plant decided to use the Flint River as the main source of water instead of Lake Huron as a “cost saving measure.” The river is polluted with lead from older, now defunct industrial factories which specialized in products that contain harmful byproducts. One of the water-purifying agents used in the Flint River is ferric chloride which has an effect on naturally occurring bio-matter in water, increased corrosiveness.…
In the Grimes v. Kennedy Krieger Institute, Kennedy Krieger Institute whom will be referred to as KKI, targeted low income and minority residents with young children to live in rental homes that had lead paint in them in Baltimore, Maryland. KKI wanted to test the children that have lived in these homes blood over a number of years to see the extent in which the blood was contaminated from lead being in the paint. The goal of this research study was to understand that lead paint quality was harmful and KKI sought to find out the results of children living in properties with lead. This case had a non-therapeutic outcome, its purpose was to show the effectiveness of lower cost techniques in abating lead content in homes. To make sure KKI had…
In the article “I’m a Flint resident. I’m done paying for water that is not safe” by Tunde Olaniran, Olaniran discusses the issues surrounding the water crisis in Flint Michigan. She speaks of her own history regarding the unsafe water and how she paid her bills until she was afraid to drink it or even let it touch her skin. The water crisis is due to high levels of lead and corroded pipes which combine together to make unsafe water for all purposes. Some experienced hair loss and scalp issues when washing their hair.…
If another water crisis emerges, or another crisis involved in the state and local infrastructure that surrounds cities like Flint, then many more lives will unduly suffer in the near future. Poverty is a strong factor in the lives of Flint and they will not improve if laws like this are still active. The time trend for this is also urgent as many Flint residents depend on bottled water and while the water was switched back to Detroit’s system, large amounts of lead were still found in the plumbing systems. The government failure in Michigan must be dealt with in not just one angle but with alternatives that may shed light and solutions in not only the Emergency Management law, but also the water infrastructure that has caused so many illnesses and deaths, that will continue to increase if little or nothing is done to rectify the gross malfeasance that has directly impacted the lives and health of many Flint residents, for not just short-term scale but in the long-term as well since lead poisoning has many different manifestations in a number of people that can occur later in…
Officials failed to apply corrosion inhibitors and proper regulatory policy, resulting in its drinking water becoming culminated with lead, creating a serious public health hazard. Negligence from city officials caused lead from aging…
Introduction The purpose of this paper is to help compare and contrast the recent Flint, Michigan water crisis to similar incidents around the world using a sociological viewpoint then analyzing the gathered information to help determine how the crisis in Flint should have been handled. Flint The town of Flint resides in the state of Michigan and has been the attention of national news due to the high lead levels that were present in the city’s municipal water system. This is all started back in 2012-2013 when Racine started to seek alternatives to the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) eventually deciding to build its own line to the Karegnondi Water Authority (KWA).…
The article Fetal Death and Reduced Birth Rates Associated with Exposure to Lead-Contaminated Drinking Water by Marc Edwards discusses some incidents regarding lead exposure, along with the correlation between this complication and fetal death, as well as miscarriages. At first glance the observation and claims being shown seem constructed with specific diction concerning a science, more precisely, ecological science. Throughout Edwards’s article, the claims presented are accompanied with the use of charts and notation. When viewing this notion of lexicon, it is suggested that the intended audience should possess knowledge and be familiar with certain vocabulary, as stated in the first sentence, “in children at thresholds >5 μg/dL and also >10 μg/dL” (739). We assume this as Edwards does not further elaborate on his charts and notations, leaving a portion of audience unsure of the truth and meaning behind these claims.…
Amongst the several locations sampled, the total trihalomethane (TTHM) concentration levels exceeded the 80 μg/L regulatory limit. In turn, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality requested a preventative operational evaluation in September 2014. In February 2015, Flint resident Lee Ann Walters’ water in her home was sample and lead was found in her water at a concentration of 104 μg/L. Marc Edwards, a professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, analyzed 120 samples from Flint homes; he found that 20% of the samples had lead levels that exceeded the 15 μg/L action level. He also concluded that the 90th percentile was 30 μg/L…
A lot happen after a water leaves the treatment plant. Most of the service line are made of lead including the one’s in flint. The reason many people are not lead poisoned despite the fact that most of the pipe use to travel the water are made of lead. The reason lies in the complex chemical reactions that goes on between the pipes and the water that flow through it. “ inside the pipes, as the water goes through it, it react.…
An article by The New York Times states about the water pipes, “Just over 6,200 have been replaced so far, said Steve Branch, the acting city administrator. An estimated 12,000 could remain” (Fortin). This means that around one third of the pipes that Flint residents are being forced to drink out of could still be leaching lead in the water. Since no level of lead is considered safe for children, and others, to consume, this needs to be fixed. By extending the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Emergency Order which provided Flint residents with reliable bottled water until 2020, when all the pipes are replaced, you will ensure that Flint residents have access to safe water.…
(http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/20/465545378/lead-laced-water-in-flint-a-step-by-step-look-at-the-makings-of-a-crisis). People in Flint, have been drinking and bathing in water that has enough lead to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s definition…
Many pipes that flowed through Flint homes contained a considerable amount of lead. A class action lawsuit brought by multiple residents against the Governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder, the State of Michigan, the City of Flint, and many others, showed that the state Department of Environmental Quality violated the federal law when they failed to treat the water from the Flint River with an anti-corrosive agent. Treating water that flows through Flint’s water pipes is crucial due to the fact that, as stated earlier, many of the pipes contained lead. Lake Huron’s water is treated with orthophosphate, an anti-corrosive agent. However, as detected by studies, the Flint River is not treated with any anti-corrosive agent.…
Flint, Michigan is the home to 98,310 families. 90 percent of these family homes fall below the healthy threshold of lead contained in drinking water. The entire 98,310-population count, needs clean drinking water to survive (Parks). Flint’s water problem, not only displays a negative connection between the nation, African American and Native families, businesses, as well as the overall health of thousands. Fixating specifically on the 66,560 African Americans living in Flint, Michigan, environmental racism starts to stand out ("Population Estimates”).…
As most of America is aware of by now, there is a grave injustice happening in Flint, Michigan. The city’s drinking water is heavily contaminated with lead and has been since 2014. The problem began when the city of Flint switched to using the Flint River as a source of drinking water. A month after the switch was made, residents began to “complain about the smell and color of the new water, which [was] 70 percent harder than its previous water source” (Kennedy, 2016). Despite the complaints, no action was taken.…