Three years after the lead poisoning of Flint, residents face water shutoffs, home foreclosures
10 May 2017
More than three years after the decision to switch the water supply of Flint, Michigan to the polluted Flint River, virtually nothing has been done to address the catastrophic health consequences of the lead poisoning of tens of thousands of working-class residents. Instead, city officials have resumed water shutoffs and are threatening to foreclose on the homes of workers who fail to pay for water tainted by lead and other toxins.
The city’s 100,000 mostly working-class and low-income residents have been exposed to high levels of water-borne bacteria, leading to at least 12 fatalities from Legionnaires’ disease, and widespread lead poisoning. An untold number of Flint residents still suffer from rashes, breathing problems and other maladies caused by toxic levels of lead, which attacks the brain and central nervous system and can cause comas, convulsions and death.
The longer-term effects, particularly for the 9,000 children under six who were exposed, can include brain damage, learning disabilities and behavioral problems. The neurotoxin can be passed from mother to child for up to three generations, causing birth defects, mental retardation and increased infant mortality.
All of the promises to address this humanitarian crisis—from Republican Governor Rick Snyder and President Barack Obama to Democratic and Republican officials at the state and local level—have come to nothing. More than 20,000 residences are still hooked up to lead service lines and most of the city’s corroded water mains remain in place. Claiming the water is safe, Snyder has stopped subsidizing residents’ water bills and is ending the state’s bottled water program.
Anticipating public…