Flint, MI

[Niel]

So Flint declared a state of emergency recently becuase of their water supply. In the last year, after changing from the Detroit water supply: they had unlawful levels of lead in the water.
It was found after a number of parents reported lead poisoning in their children.

The mayor says he isn't sure if a state of emergency is the correct course of action, but as he fears money will be needed for special needs schooling and extra health care costs do to the poisoning, he needed to official request it this way.

I've heard "rumors" that the water department, government officials, even the governor had covered it up.....


Either way its very upsetting.

 

[Niel]

Obama recently signed an emergency order for Flint....

Though this doesn't seem to interest anyone.

 

[vintagelover229]

It interests me Noel as does the cover up and the cover up of the methane gas leak in LA, but I understand being bugged by the crickets chirping. I can't comment much now but alternative news sources have a lot to say about this and I'm glad you posted about it. I'll try and write more on the matter later but my opinions aren't very popular around here and so I am not sure investing my time in something that could potentially get comments that would be rude is something I care to do.

I will say this, this is far from the only place that has major issues impacting the physical or emotional health that has been or that is being covered up. Not just in flint, but on a massive level in many places (oil pipeline breaking comes to mind I think I posted about a few years ago, I can't recall). History shows time and time again that the people get lied to and screwed left right and center. As long as its not affecting people directly they really don't care (they care but only enough to read about it and feel bad or maybe send money nothing to motivate real changes occurring).


Sawmill plants polluting rivers killing natives in Canada, other factories and other examples (what's that movie that Julia Roberts started in about a lawyer, cancer everywhere?) lies upon likes and cover up after cover up. Breaks my heart.

Even local to me an aluminum processing plant was polluting the wetlands and were ordered to clean up, refused, government refused and had closed door meetings not telling the public and now no ones ckeaning it up! It's directly impacting Georgian bay and local health but they don't care. Locals are super upset and have paid for environmental lawyers to try and get something done but it's going no where.

List goes on and on and on.

 

[ame]

I think it reeks of deliberate action and deliberate coverup because the town is inhabited by mostly African-Americans and mostly, if not all, low-income people. Michael Moore was calling it out for institutionalized racism, and while he's usually a bit..um..overzealous, shall we say, I don't disagree. The more I read into this, the more I really do think this was a deliberate action. At first I didn't, but I was inclined to believe it was just the reason for the super pathetic cleanup and fix. It's sickening. What is wrong with our governments, and what is wrong with the people running them, that our citizens, especially those of less wealth, are somehow meaningless? Greed has gotten out of hand.

 

[Niel]

It was nice to see the candidates in the dem debate refer to it directly last night. It's been a slow roll of getting this out into the public eye.

There has also been a push for the gov. Office to release emails regarding the water crisis, but 1 I don't think that will happen and 2, I think they'll be heavily doctored even if they where released.

I have heard a push to arrest Snyder. I'm. It so sure I agree, but he needs to resign. He's been an embarrassment to this state in the past, but this is so much more than that

 

[missy]

Niel, I find it terribly upsetting as well. Just heard about this yesterday and how can something like this happen in this day and age. Just awful. Yes something is horribly wrong with our government and the people in charge. Our system is broken.

 

[woofmama]

I saw this today ; http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/cher-donates-thousands-bottles-water-aid-flint-crisis-n498226

It's unbelievable that the Governor was aware of the situation & didn't take action. Very sad indeed. I hope those affected don't suffer long term effects.

 

[ksinger]

There is nothing wrong with our form of government, there is something wrong with US. Our government works pretty well when we remember that it's for the people, not for business. This situation just shows what is wrong with a particularly prevalent mindset in the culture. Since WE are the government, it becomes most glaringly apparent at state and local levels, like in Flint.

Remember, we have to get the burden of unreasonable regulation off the backs of business. So at the well-funded urging of powerful business interests who have resisted regulation at every step, we've defunded and thus effectively defanged the EPA (although maybe not enough, since the Republicans are still at it, attempting to drown government in the bathtub, and Trump has stated he'll defund the EPA even further), because we can't have the evil fed with their meddling after all, it's bad for business. Except when all of a sudden we think the regulatory body we've starved for funds, now owes us to protect us from...us.

The only way this is different from the more than the 1300 superfund (and yes, that's a tale in itself) sites in the US, is because this time it was not a business directly, but a business mindset within government - which we are repeatedly told will improve government yet somehow never actually does, which resulted in prioritizing short term money over public safety when the going got tough, and assumed because it was "those people", it wouldn't matter.* It dovetails nicely with the bottom line mindset infiltrating everything, from the privatization of prisons, to the selling of our public schools to the highest bidder.

*A friend whose wife ran for Lt. Gov in my state's last election, actually heard this attitude articulated by the OK Secretary of State at a political function, when asked my friend asked him what would happen to the poor if the charter movement resulted in the remaining traditional schools being effectively defunded, he baldly stated - "They really don't matter."

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/11/health/toxic-tap-water-flint-michigan/

 

[JaneSmith]

It's because no one on the right wants to pay to do anything for the poors, especially if they're black.

'I'll tell you what, if the kids in a rich suburb of Detroit had been drinking contaminated water and being bathed in it, there would've been action,' - H. Clinton.