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The History of The Flint Water Crisis.
Let me start this rant off by saying I’m from Flint. I grew up there. I went to their schools. My family still lives there and so do I. I’ve known about and have been speaking out about the Flint water crisis for over two years. I know this issue like the back of my hand.
Some people are saying the Flint water crisis was caused by racism and they pull the demographic that Flint is almost 60% black. I’ve seen so many goddamn posts here that’s just a picture of Flint’s race demographics as if that was explanation enough as to why this has happened to us, and that annoys the FUCK out of me. It annoys me because the entire root of the problem, the entire issue that’s been going on for years, gets simplified by people who’ve known of Flint’s existence for less than a half an hour to just “racism”. This was never a race thing, the water crisis and Flint’s demographics have literally nothing to do with each other.
This began in the early 1990s. Flint was a factory town, much like Detroit. In the 90′s, factories started to outsource their work to other countries. Nearly every factory in Flint shut down. 90% of Flint’s jobs had disappeared in less than 20 years. Over 100,000 people left. Because of this, the entire economy destabilized. Thousands of people were laid off, including most notably, teachers and law enforcement. This became one of the reasons why Flint has one of the highest crime rates per capita in the United States.
By the year 2002, Flint was over $30 million in debt. They went to emergency managers, but to no avail. Mayors and emergency managers have been in and out of the city like you would not believe, rarely serving their full term.
Flint struggled along through the housing market crash until 2011. That’s when this all started to kick off. On September 30, 2011, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder appointed a review team to review Flint’s financial state with a request to report back in 30 days (half the legal time for a review). On November 8, the Michigan State review panel declared Flint of to be in the state of a “local government financial emergency” recommending the state again appoint an Emergency Manager. On November 14, the City Council voted 7 to 2 to not appeal the state review with Mayor Walling concurring. Governor Snyder appointed Michael Brown as the city’s Emergency Manager on November 29, effective December 1. December 2, Brown kicked out the almost entire administration.
On March 20, 2012, days after a lawsuit was filed by labor union AFSCME ( American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), and a restraining order was issued against Brown, his appointment was found to be in violation of the Michigan Open Meetings Act and Mayor Walling and the City Council had their powers returned. The state immediately filed an emergency appeal, claiming the financial emergency still existed. On March 26, the appeal was granted, putting Brown back in power.
Michael Brown was re-appointed Emergency Manager on June 26, 2013, and returned to work on July 8. Flint had an $11.3 million projected deficit when Brown started as emergency manager in 2011. The city faced a $19.1 million deficit from 2012, with plans to borrow $12 million to cover part of it. Brown resigned from his position in early September 2013. He was succeeded by Saginaw city manager (and former Flint temporary mayor) Darnell Earley.
The Flint Water Crisis
In an attempt to save money, in early 2014, Flint began the undertaking of a water supply switch-over from reliable supplies from the City of Detroit. Initially, the drawing of water from the Flint River was viewed by the City as a temporary fix prior to the City’s ultimate switch to a permanent supply which would be provided after the Karegnondi Water Authority’s construction of a pipeline from Lake Huron, thereby eliminating Flint’s long-time dependence on Detroit City water. By doing this, Flint would no longer have to buy it’s water from Detroit, and it was hoped that it would help to lessen Flint’s deficit.
After the change in water source, the city’s drinking water had a series of issues that culminated with lead contamination, creating a serious public health danger. The corrosive Flint River water caused lead from aging pipes to leach into the water supply, causing extremely elevated levels of lead. As a result, residents had severely high levels of lead in the blood and experienced a range of serious health problems. The water may also be a possible cause of an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the county that has killed 10 people and affected another 77.
In January 2015, a public meeting was held, where citizens complained about the bad water. Residents complained about the taste, smell and appearance of the water for 18 months before a Flint physician found highly elevated blood lead levels in the children of Flint while the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality insisted the water was safe to drink.
While the local outcry about Flint water quality was growing in early 2015, Flint’s water officials filed papers with state regulators purporting to show that “tests at Flint’s water treatment plant had detected no lead and testing in homes had registered lead at acceptable levels." The documents falsely claim that the city had tested tap water from homes with lead service lines, and therefore the highest lead-poisoning risks; in reality; the city does not know the locations of lead service lines, which city officials acknowledged in November 2015 after the Flint Journal published an article revealing the practice after obtaining documents through the Michigan Freedom of Information Act. The Journal reported that the city had "disregarded federal rules requiring it to seek out homes with lead plumbing for testing, potentially leading the city and state to underestimate for months the extent of toxic lead leaching into Flint’s tap water." Only after independent research was conducted by Marc Edwards, an engineering professor at Virginia Tech, and a local physician, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, was a public-health emergency declared.
In September 2015, a team working under Edwards published a report finding that Flint water was "very corrosive” and “causing lead contamination in homes” and concluding that “Flint River water leaches more lead from plumbing than does Detroit water. This is creating a public health threat in some Flint homes that have lead pipe or lead solder." Edwards was shocked by the extent of the contamination and by authorities’ inaction in the face of their knowledge of the contamination.
On September 24, 2015, Hurley Medical Center in Flint released a study, led by Hanna-Attisha, the MPH program director for pediatric residency at the Hurley Children’s Hospital, confirming that proportion of infants and children with elevated levels of lead in their blood had nearly doubled since the city switched from the Detroit water system to using the Flint River as its water source. Using hospital records, Hanna-Attisha found that a steep rise in blood-lead levels correlated to the city’s switch in water sources. The study was initially dismissed by Michigan Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Brad Wurfel, who stuck to the claim that: "Repeated testing indicated the water tested within acceptable levels." Later, Wurfel apologized to Hanna-Attisha.
On November 13, 2015, four families filed a federal class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit against Governor Rick Snyder and thirteen other city and state officials, and three separate people filed a similar suit in state court two months later. Separately, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan and the Michigan Attorney General’s office opened investigations. On January 5, 2016, the city was declared to be in a state of emergency by the Governor of Michigan, before President Obama declared the crisis as a federal state of emergency, authorizing additional help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security less than two weeks later.
Three government officials - one from the City of Flint and two from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality - resigned over the mishandling of the crisis, and Snyder issued an apology to citizens.
On January 13, 2016, Snyder said 87 cases of Legionnaires’ disease, a waterborne disease, were reported in Genesee County from June 2014–November 2015, resulting in 10 deaths. Although the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) said that there is no evidence of a clear link between the spike in cases and the water system change, Edwards stated the contaminated Flint water could be linked to the spike, telling reporters, "It’s very possible that, the conditions in the Flint River water contributed. We’ve actually predicted earlier this year, that the conditions present in Flint would increase the likelihood of Legionnaires’ disease. We wrote a proposal on that to the National Science Foundation that was funded and we visited Flint and did two sampling events. The first one, which was focused on single family homes or smaller businesses. We did not find detectable levels of Legionella bacteria that causes disease, in those buildings. But, during our second trip, we looked at large buildings and we found very high levels of Legionella that tends to cause the disease.”
That’s what happened in Flint. It wasn’t an act of racism, it was an act of politicians cutting corners to save money, and it’s killing us. They denied any knowledge of the water being poisoned for almost a year, they denied that we were in danger, and they knew we were being poisoned.
I’m reposting this story in it’s entirety because the situation is getting dire and no one’s helping.
[Top] Gina Reynolds, a University of Michigan Flint student majoring in social work, chants “clean water is a human right,” at cars passing by during a small protest Jan. 13
[Bottom] People bring water from their taps to show city officials at city meeting, Jan. 21
I made a post earlier about my city of Flint, Michigan’s water situation and I wanted to share this because our drinking water is literally making people and pets ill. I don’t want people to ignore this, I NEED people to know what’s going on here.
LeeAnne Walters, 36, of Flint shows water samples from her home to Flint emergency manager Jerry Ambrose on Wednesday after city and state officials spoke during a forum that addressed growing health concerns about the drinking water.
In a city where residents have felt under siege for years — from crime, bad press and an emergency manager some feel forced upon them — the newest threat pours from kitchen spigots and showerheads.
It’s the reason behind mysterious rashes on local children, parents say. Unexplained illnesses. Even sick pets.
Bethany Hazard said it’s the reason for the brown rust circles that began appearing just months ago around her drains and the oily film in her bathwater in her longtime east-side home.
On the west side of Flint, Corodon Maynard said it’s the reason he was bent retching violently over the toilet this month — just hours after chugging two glasses of water at bedtime.
“I was throwing up like bleach water. It came up through my nose burning,” said the 20-year-old.
The water from the city system is so corrosive, according to General Motors officials, that the automaker’s Flint Engine Operations pulled off the city water system, connecting instead into a water system operated by nearby Flint Township.
Adam Mays, an artist and Flint resident, protests the condition of the Flint water system at Fifth and Saginaw in Downtown Flint, Michigan, with a few handfuls of other protestors, Tuesday afternoon, January 13, 2015.
So what’s in Flint’s water and just how dangerous is it?
It depends on who you ask and what tests you’re referring to.
State tests suggest the water is clear of coliform bacteria, which can suggest the presence of other disease-carrying pathogens.
But as a result of treating the water to kill any dangerous microorganisms, the water now carries low levels of Total Trihalomethane, or TTHM, a by-product of the disinfectants. Years of exposure may cause liver, kidney or central nervous system problems and an increased risk of cancer, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The city maintains the water — pulled from the Flint River rather than the Detroit water system that had served the city for years —is safe.
Mayor Dayne Walling who was born and raised in Flint, said he drinks it.
The river, long known for the toxins left from Flint’s industrial years, is cleaner than it has been in years, “but that perception persists,” Walling said.
Flint resident Gladyes Williamson-Bunnell asks officials addressing issues with the water quality if they would drink some of the Flint water she held up in a gallon jug during the water meeting on Wednesday evening, Jan. 21, 2015, at the Flint City Hall dome in downtown Flint.
“I’ve taken to calling it ‘poop water,’ ” said Nayyirah Shariff, a community activist for the grassroots group Democracy Defense League.
Many said they are ready to abandon longtime homes.
“What we have is a full-blown crisis,” said GM retiree Claire McClinton who had bundled up against the snow earlier this week to run into El Potrero Mexican restaurant for a late lunch.
But she reconsidered at the last minute and walked out instead, worried about eating at restaurants that rely on city water in their kitchens.
She’s not the only customer who is concerned.
Business overall has been hit “probably 20 to 30%,” said manager Jorge Alcazar.
The restaurant’s lifeblood is in customers seeking a quick, affordable lunch, often with a glass of ice water.
Unwilling to drink the tap water, customers also don’t want to pay $2 or more for a pop or buy a bottled water.
Worse for waitress Ashley Trujillo, customers have argued with staff. One customer left three pennies as a tip after fuming about having to pay for water. Others have left nothing.
“Like we have something to do with it,” Trujillo said.
All of this — the frustration, the slump in El Potrero’s business, the jam-packed meetings with residents toting jugs of brown water and claims they are being poisoned — are the latest blows to a city that has felt swatted around for too long.
“People think all the crime happens in Flint and everyone is poor in Flint, so there’s this stigma. Now we’re fighting against dirty water. Really?” said radiology coder Cindy Marshall, who joined about two dozen protesters earlier this week.
“Are you trying to kill us?” read one sign. “No more poison,” read another.
McClinton echoed Marshall’s sentiments: “We’ve lost confidence in the city.”
A protestor holds a sign out for cars to see during the protest of the conditions of the Flint water system at Fifth and Saginaw in Downtown Flint, Michigan, Tuesday afternoon, January 13, 2015.
Soaring bills.
For years, residents in this city bleeding jobs and soaked in red ink have been facing growing water bills. Some have climbed as high as several hundred dollars a month.
“We have residents choosing between water and groceries and other bills,” said Hazard, whose own bill is about $100 a month for a single person.
“I feel like I’m going under,” said Hazard, who survived cancer twice and who was forced into early retirement and limited income.
The city eventually decided to dump the Detroit system in favor of the Karegnondi Water Authority, which is building a system to supply Genesee County with water pulled from Lake Huron. In the long run, this will mean lower water costs, officials have said.
Under the plan, Flint is temporarily pulling water from the Flint River until the water authority’s system comes online, expected in 2016.
In August and September, however, the city issued three advisories to boil the water after detecting coliform bacteria.
Just before Christmas, residents received notices that state tests indicated higher-than-acceptable levels of trihalomethane, the disinfectant by-product.
Hazard’s cats have been sick. So has she and several neighbors. Even her houseplant began to die.
Maynard threw up. Residents complained of rashes and mysterious illnesses.
“We just want safe water. How hard is that?” Hazard asked.
But assurances come with qualifiers.
The chlorine did its job and cleaned the water of microbial pathogens that can cause disease within days. That means the water is safe for healthy people to drink for a short time, said Michael Prysby, a district engineer in the state’s Office of Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance.
But the trade-off was TTMH — possibly a danger for the very young, the very old, or the very sick if they ingest it long-term, he added.
People with prolonged exposure to TTMH may experience problems with their liver, kidneys or central nervous system and have an increased risk of getting cancer.
“But we’re talking decades,” he said, adding that those who are worried should talk to their doctors.
“We don’t want to make a blanket statement to say water is safe or unsafe. It’s misleading both ways.”
That’s the kind of answer that infuriates Marshall, the protester and mother of a 5-year-old.
“They said it’s safe, but it’s brown water,” said Marshall, also a radiology coder, after the meeting. “Why do we have to drink brown water? No one else has to drink brown water.”
Update for September 16, 2015
So, it's been about 9 months and the water has not gotten any better. As a matter of fact, it’s worse now. Here’s a picture taken just a few hours ago.
From the Facebook post associated with this picture “This fire hydrant in Flint, Michigan has been “flushing” for over 5-hours… after 5-hours, that’s not flushing… that is the water quality in Flint. ”
Fire hydrants carry CLEAN, TREATED water. This is our “clean and treated water”. This is the water that we have to drink.
And that’s not all. Water tests have been conducted in the last few days and in every district they checked, the amount of sites with over 15ppb of lead in the water has either gone up or stayed the same. You can see the results here at http://flintwaterstudy.org
Update for September 24th, 2015
Flint mayor Dayne Walling is letting his people be poisoned and is continuing to deny it.
The lead content in Flint children’s blood has spiked in the past year.
In perhaps the most dramatic proof yet of the toxic impact of Flint’s decision to draw municipal water from the Flint River, a new study released today shows that the amount of lead found in the bloodstream of Flint children increased dramatically following the switch from the Detroit water system in 2014.
The results — which are based on blood samples drawn from 1,746 children ages 5 and younger — were even more frightening in Flint neighborhoods where Virginia Tech researchers testing water from nearly 300 homes found the highest levels of lead in the city’s water. Analysis of blood samples from children living in those same high-risk areas showed that the number of kids with elevated levels of lead in their blood jumped from 2.5 percent to 6.3 percent.
The following statement was released by Congressman Dan Kildee earlier today:
“This new study showing elevated blood lead levels among Flint’s children is very troubling. People have the right to have confidence that their drinking water is safe.
Immediate action needs to be taken by the State of Michigan to ensure that relief is provided to people who are concerned about lead levels in their water. Today as part of my ongoing efforts, I talked with the EPA Region 5 Administrator about the State of Michigan providing emergency assistance, including lead-clearing filters and bottled water, until a more permanent solution can be determined.
This new study by the medical community also raises additional doubts about prior water testing done by the DEQ and EPA that stated the water was in compliance with federal law. I have been completely unsatisfied with their answers to my questions regarding their testing methodology, which is why I have called for additional immediate independent and scientific testing to be done.”
What you can do:
Donate to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan
Donate to the Flint Diaper Bank to help infants get clean water
Please don’t let this be swept under the rug like it has been for the past year.
In case you were wondering how we were doing down in Flint… 😒
Growing increasingly frustrated with its lack of access to the criminal justice system, the Mott Foundation building takes justice into its own hands…
Bottled water donations in Flint, Michigan have plummetted, but the crisis remains
Months after massive water contamination in the city of Flint, Michigan drew national headlines, residents in the area are still relying on bottled water — but donations of purified, filtered water are limited. New statistics show that donations have decreased by an alarming percentage.
I mentioned this before. The stop-gap nature of the government response shows that they have been waiting for us to stop caring rather than trying to fix the problem.
[Top] Gina Reynolds, a University of Michigan Flint student majoring in social work, chants “clean water is a human right,” at cars passing by during a small protest Jan. 13
[Bottom] People bring water from their taps to show city officials at city meeting, Jan. 21
I made a post earlier about my city of Flint, Michigan’s water situation and I wanted to share this because our drinking water is literally making people and pets ill. I don’t want people to ignore this, I NEED people to know what’s going on here.
LeeAnne Walters, 36, of Flint shows water samples from her home to Flint emergency manager Jerry Ambrose on Wednesday after city and state officials spoke during a forum that addressed growing health concerns about the drinking water.
In a city where residents have felt under siege for years — from crime, bad press and an emergency manager some feel forced upon them — the newest threat pours from kitchen spigots and showerheads.
It’s the reason behind mysterious rashes on local children, parents say. Unexplained illnesses. Even sick pets.
Bethany Hazard said it’s the reason for the brown rust circles that began appearing just months ago around her drains and the oily film in her bathwater in her longtime east-side home.
On the west side of Flint, Corodon Maynard said it’s the reason he was bent retching violently over the toilet this month — just hours after chugging two glasses of water at bedtime.
“I was throwing up like bleach water. It came up through my nose burning,” said the 20-year-old.
The water from the city system is so corrosive, according to General Motors officials, that the automaker’s Flint Engine Operations pulled off the city water system, connecting instead into a water system operated by nearby Flint Township.
Adam Mays, an artist and Flint resident, protests the condition of the Flint water system at Fifth and Saginaw in Downtown Flint, Michigan, with a few handfuls of other protestors, Tuesday afternoon, January 13, 2015.
So what’s in Flint’s water and just how dangerous is it?
It depends on who you ask and what tests you’re referring to.
State tests suggest the water is clear of coliform bacteria, which can suggest the presence of other disease-carrying pathogens.
But as a result of treating the water to kill any dangerous microorganisms, the water now carries low levels of Total Trihalomethane, or TTHM, a by-product of the disinfectants. Years of exposure may cause liver, kidney or central nervous system problems and an increased risk of cancer, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The city maintains the water — pulled from the Flint River rather than the Detroit water system that had served the city for years —is safe.
Mayor Dayne Walling who was born and raised in Flint, said he drinks it.
The river, long known for the toxins left from Flint’s industrial years, is cleaner than it has been in years, “but that perception persists,” Walling said.
Flint resident Gladyes Williamson-Bunnell asks officials addressing issues with the water quality if they would drink some of the Flint water she held up in a gallon jug during the water meeting on Wednesday evening, Jan. 21, 2015, at the Flint City Hall dome in downtown Flint.
“I’ve taken to calling it ‘poop water,’ ” said Nayyirah Shariff, a community activist for the grassroots group Democracy Defense League.
Many said they are ready to abandon longtime homes.
“What we have is a full-blown crisis,” said GM retiree Claire McClinton who had bundled up against the snow earlier this week to run into El Potrero Mexican restaurant for a late lunch.
But she reconsidered at the last minute and walked out instead, worried about eating at restaurants that rely on city water in their kitchens.
She’s not the only customer who is concerned.
Business overall has been hit “probably 20 to 30%,” said manager Jorge Alcazar.
The restaurant’s lifeblood is in customers seeking a quick, affordable lunch, often with a glass of ice water.
Unwilling to drink the tap water, customers also don’t want to pay $2 or more for a pop or buy a bottled water.
Worse for waitress Ashley Trujillo, customers have argued with staff. One customer left three pennies as a tip after fuming about having to pay for water. Others have left nothing.
“Like we have something to do with it,” Trujillo said.
All of this — the frustration, the slump in El Potrero’s business, the jam-packed meetings with residents toting jugs of brown water and claims they are being poisoned — are the latest blows to a city that has felt swatted around for too long.
“People think all the crime happens in Flint and everyone is poor in Flint, so there’s this stigma. Now we’re fighting against dirty water. Really?” said radiology coder Cindy Marshall, who joined about two dozen protesters earlier this week.
“Are you trying to kill us?” read one sign. “No more poison,” read another.
McClinton echoed Marshall’s sentiments: “We’ve lost confidence in the city.”
A protestor holds a sign out for cars to see during the protest of the conditions of the Flint water system at Fifth and Saginaw in Downtown Flint, Michigan, Tuesday afternoon, January 13, 2015.
Soaring bills
For years, residents in this city bleeding jobs and soaked in red ink have been facing growing water bills. Some have climbed as high as several hundred dollars a month.
“We have residents choosing between water and groceries and other bills,” said Hazard, whose own bill is about $100 a month for a single person.
“I feel like I’m going under,” said Hazard, who survived cancer twice and who was forced into early retirement and limited income.
The city eventually decided to dump the Detroit system in favor of the Karegnondi Water Authority, which is building a system to supply Genesee County with water pulled from Lake Huron. In the long run, this will mean lower water costs, officials have said.
Under the plan, Flint is temporarily pulling water from the Flint River until the water authority’s system comes online, expected in 2016.
In August and September, however, the city issued three advisories to boil the water after detecting coliform bacteria.
Just before Christmas, residents received notices that state tests indicated higher-than-acceptable levels of trihalomethane, the disinfectant by-product.
Hazard’s cats have been sick. So has she and several neighbors. Even her houseplant began to die.
Maynard threw up. Residents complained of rashes and mysterious illnesses.
“We just want safe water. How hard is that?” Hazard asked.
But assurances come with qualifiers.
The chlorine did its job and cleaned the water of microbial pathogens that can cause disease within days. That means the water is safe for healthy people to drink for a short time, said Michael Prysby, a district engineer in the state’s Office of Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance.
But the trade-off was TTMH — possibly a danger for the very young, the very old, or the very sick if they ingest it long-term, he added.
People with prolonged exposure to TTMH may experience problems with their liver, kidneys or central nervous system and have an increased risk of getting cancer.
“But we’re talking decades,” he said, adding that those who are worried should talk to their doctors.
“We don’t want to make a blanket statement to say water is safe or unsafe. It’s misleading both ways.”
That’s the kind of answer that infuriates Marshall, the protester and mother of a 5-year-old.
“They said it’s safe, but it’s brown water,” said Marshall, also a radiology coder, after the meeting. “Why do we have to drink brown water? No one else has to drink brown water.”
So, its been about 9 months and the water has not gotten any better. As a matter of fact, it’s worse now. Here’s a picture taken just a few hours ago (September 16, 2015).
From the Facebook post associated with this picture “This fire hydrant in Flint, Michigan has been "flushing” for over 5-hours… after 5-hours, that’s not flushing… that is the water quality in Flint. "
Fire hydrants carry CLEAN, TREATED water. This is out “clean and treated water”. This is the water that we have to drink.
And that’s not all. Water tests have been conducted in the last few days and in every district they checked, the amount of sites with over 15ppb of lead in the water has either gone up or stayed the same. You can see the results here at http://flintwaterstudy.org
