Regulating Toxic Chemicals

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.

The Flint Water Crisis has quickly joined the ranks of Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance, Kwame Kilpatrick, and the state of Michigan’s highways as nationally televised disappointments to come out of Michigan. This paper will look at the facts surrounding the causes, current situation, and remedies for the Crisis while also confronting the ethical and unethical acts of key figures associated with the Crisis.

The Flint water crisis has left no one from the damage, even the pets are getting sick of the poisoned water. That was what residents Lee and Ernie of Flint Michigan saw with their cat. Flint is a city in Michigan with a total population of approximately one hundred thousand residents. The issue with the water for Flints and its residents stated in 2014 when the city decided to switch from their water resource from the city of Detroit to a local river. Immediately after the switch residents filed complaints about the water’s smell and color. In Ryan Felton’s “Flint’s Water Crisis: What went wrong,” it is apparent that the crisis should not have happened, and that flint was neglected just because it was an impoverished city.

An essential necessity for life is slowly killing residents in Michigan. The town of Flint, Michigan is slowly being poisoned by their water supply. Flint is 70 miles north of Detroit with a population of 98,310. According to the U.S. Census Bureau a little under half of residents live below the poverty line. More than fifty-five percent of the city’s population is African-American (CNN Library). The dangerous lead levels in the water went unnoticed for years, despite the residents’ complaints of discolored and foul-smelling water. The question at hand is how could this happen?

Flint water crisis has been a low key story that did flush out into mainstream media until recently in early 2016 when President Baraka Obama declared this as a federal state of emergency. This crisis began in April 2014 when Flint’s water supply had been switch from Lake Huron, Detroit’s water system, to the Flint River which has high rates of contamination (Craven and Tynes 2016). After many complaints and petitions to switch the water supply back to Lake Huron’s water, the water source was still not switch over, because the river was claimed “safe” by the white people who held power. However, when the switch was made, the water pipes made of lead are already damaged and contaminated. Leading poisoning in children became a serious issue as many children began to show signs of poisoning and a chance for them to get Legionnaire’s disease. Surprisingly enough, when searching up “Flint Water Crisis”, there was no article that listed race as a potential factor into this decision of switching water supplies, until the addition of “racism” to the search bar to find many articles on this case. The reason to switch water supplies seems to be just saving 15 million dollars (Martinez 2016). However, Flint is a heavily populated black community, more than 57% are black, and Flint is about 40 % poor (United States Census 2016). Therefore, Flint water crisis is the intersection of race, poverty, money and power of a current society that believes in colorblindness and that residential

However, rather than try to deal with the problems that were being brought to the government’s attention, the Snyder administration covered up the problems and discredited the scientists or doctors that tried to warn people of the problems. There have been multiple credible studies involving Flint’s water crisis. For example, a doctor performed blood tests on children in the Flint area and uncovered a significant increase in the number of children who had increased levels of lead in their blood. She immediately brought her findings to the attention of various agencies in the Snyder Administration but she was largely ignored. Another researcher came to Flint to get a sample of water; he placed a nail in the water and after a week the nail began to rust immediately. He brought his document and proof to the Governor administration and this person, yet again, was discredited and marginalized. Meanwhile, one of the largest manufacturing companies in the world, whose Flint manufacturing plant refused to use the water because it caused engine parts to corrode. Despite many examples of significant problems with the water in Flint, Governor Snyder dismissed the problem until children were being diagnosed with lead poison that when he figured it was time to address the

From what you now know about the Flint, Michigan water crisis, write a minimum of 2 paragraphs capturing the following information:

There currently is a problem in the US with the government and how they cut corners with the water problem in Flint, Michigan. About two years ago, Michigan’s government decided they would save money by switching the water supply in Flint, Michigan. Before, Flint was getting their water from Lake Huron. Now, they are getting their water from the Flint River, known by it’s filth through the people of Flint. When reporters interviewed long-time residents of Flint they were shocked at the decision. The decision was supposed to be temporary, it wasn’t planned for it to go on for almost two years. Soon after the switch, the people of Flint saw the water didn’t look, smell, or taste right. It was almost as if the water was brown and you could see the dirt in it. Most people thought it was sewage but it turn out to be iron. The Flint River is highly contaminated, 19 times more so than Lake Huron. The state Department of Environmental Quality wasn’t treating the river so, the water was building up iron which caused the water to turn brown. The water was worse than it seemed, half the service line to homes in Flint are made of lead because the water wasn’t treated like it was supposed to be. The lead got into the water and mixed with the iron. The fire stations are helping with providing free bottled water and water filters for the homes. The fire stations also gave out lead testing kits

Over the past few years, Flint, Michigan, has undergone a severe water crisis. The problem arose when the area’s water supply was changed to the Flint River. The problem, however, arose in the extreme amounts of lead in the water. While studies and tests were conducted by the government, no information was broadcast, and the general

Great post. The Flint water crisis, resulting in toxic levels of lead in the city’s water supply, was indeed a major public health tragedy in the recent years. A series of bad decisions by a few led to the devastating environment, health, and safety ramifications. One strategy is that the city should ensure that the state conduct corrosion control reviews before implementing any water source or treatment change.1 This strategy is especially necessary for communities, like Flint, with their aging infrastructures, under the city governance, and minimal water utility capacity.1 Such areas required an increased need for the state and federal oversight and expertise in making decisions that affects the health of such vulnerable population.1 Also,

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Flint’s governing body decided to switch from Detroit’s water system in a cost-cutting measure to reduce budget expenditures. Although the city saved money through the change, its poor residents, who most likely would not have benefited much from the move, bore the brunt of the consequences. The plethora of unregulated chemicals allowed to flow through public water systems are

Benjamin Franklin described the necessity of water best, “When the well 's dry, we know the worth of water.” The city of Flint, Michigan has realized, the hard way, just how important clean water is with their recent water crisis. Flint, Michigan is the seventh largest metropolitan area and is home to nearly a hundred thousand people. Like most towns in Michigan, Flint’s economy was mostly fueled by the automobile industry until General Motors began closing shops in 1980, since then the city has since been ravaged by high crime and poverty. As if that was not bad enough, they have now been hit with a devastating water crisis, involving lead contaminated water. While there have been other instances like Flint’s before, none have come close

The proposed amendment to Regulation 455/09 falls under the Toxics Reduction Act (TRA). The purpose of the Act, 2009 is to “(a) to prevent pollution and protect human health and the environment by reducing the use and creation of toxic substances; and (b) to inform Ontarians about toxic substances. 2009, c. 19, s. 1.” (The TRA, 2009). The substance being proposed for consideration as “toxic” under the TRA are synthetic polymers called microbeads.

The problem in this article is that the people of Flint, Michigan are receiving water with iron found in it its traces. There are many problems with this. One being that it is illegal to have this happen and secondly, people are getting brown water; it is very unhealthy and wrong. Drinkable water is something that all people deserve to have because it is necessary for life. The part that strikes the most interest is that the people of Flint are still being charged for this infested water. Moreover, these people have been kept in the dark for over a year and a half. Doctors have been able to find the problem way before it becomes a huge dilemma. They can find rashes and hair loss. Overall, to help solve this problem, people have resorted