Dear Professor xxx:
I have attached the analytical report on the Flint, Michigan water crisis below. By doing this report, I have not only learned about the water contamination problems in Flint, but also much of the history of the city. I would like to thank you for allowing me to give me the opportunity to gain insight about this epidemic taking place in our own country.
The water contamination issues in Flint, Michigan is something that could have been easily avoided, but still occurred. Although this sadly occurred, there is a solution for this water crisis that in the long term would benefit the city and its residents. The main solution is to find a new water source for the city to get fresh water that is properly treated to EPA standards. The secondary solution is to replace old lead plumbing from the early 1900s with new cast iron or plastic piping.
I would like to mention that the majority of the information from my report came from CNN, less commonly known as Cable News Network. This is an American basic cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Turner Broadcasting System, and also has an extensive online news network. This source provided me with a great deal of accurate and current information that helped me understand the severity of the water contamination.
This project has been a great learning experience for me. If you have any questions regarding my report, please contact me by e-mail at xxx.
Sincerely,
xxx
Abstract
The United States town of Flint, Michigan is recovering from a severe water contamination problem.
Flint is a medium sized city in Michigan, with a slightly smaller population than Gainesville, Florida. It is also one of the poorest cities in America, with over 40% of people living under the poverty line.
Its water supply was contaminated after a switch from treated water provided by Detroit Water and Sewage Department to Flint River. Not only was Flint River already a toxic body of water, proper anti-corrosive treatment was not applied to the water. This caused old lead pipes in the area leach harmful amounts of lead into the water system.
The residents of Flint started to notice detrimental health effects to them and their family, leading them to complain at city meetings. The response from city officials was that there was nothing wrong with the water and that there was nothing to worry about. Scientists later uncovered that a majority of houses had tap water with excessive amounts of lead. This caused health issues such as high blood-lead levels (lead poisoning) and Legionnaire’s disease.
In order to restore proper water quality with the least amount of public health issues, it was necessary for the town to follow three steps. First, to immediately stop using Flint tap water and resort to using bottle water. Second, to switch the water source to a fresh and correctly treated source. Finally, replace old lead piping installed in the early 1900s with new piping.
As of November 21st, 2017, the city of Flint has obtained a 30-year contract with the Great Lakes Water Authority. They also have a $87 million grant provided by the state of Michigan to replace old lead pipes with more health friendly materials.
Introduction
Overview
Flint is the largest city in Genesee County, Michigan, and is located approximately 70 miles northwest of Detroit, Michigan. General Motors was founded here in the early 1900’s, and up until the late 1970’s, Flint had a bustling economy fueled by GM car manufacturing plants. When GM started to downsize its workforce from 80,000 people in 1978 to 8,000 people in 2010, the city was hit my many crises. The population of the city nearly more than halved from 196,940 in 1960 to only 97,386 in 2016. Flint became a town of high crime and poverty rates, and has repeatedly been ranked as one of the most dangerous cities in the United States. (QuickFacts)
Situation
April of 2014 marked the beginning of a major water crisis in Flint, Michigan. The city was faced by a major public health emergency due to lead poisoning in the local water, supply which has affected thousands of residents. The crisis was not acknowledged until later, causing it to be more wide-spread than if precautions were taken earlier. (CNN)
Water Crisis
Causes
The cause of the water crisis is directly caused by the change of water supply for the city. For many decades before the switch, Flint river was considered as a backup source in case of an emergency. In March of 2012, it was proposed by county officials to switch the water source from treated Detroit Water and Sewage Department to a new source in order to cut costs. The original plan was to get a pipeline from Lake Huron to Flint, but it was later decided to switch the water source to Flint River. Detroit terminated its water service contract on April 16th, 2013, and on April 21st, the water source switch to Flint River was completed. This was considered as the start of the water crisis. (CNN)
Problems
The water contamination can be widely blamed on the fact that the new water source had no corrosion inhibitors applied to it. The EPA requires all water services to apply anti-corrosive treatment to water sources, so this was the first legal problem that arose from this situation.
Many water service lines in Flint were installed in the early 1900’s. At the time, all service lines that started as cast iron ended in pipes constructed of lead. These lead pipes usually ended at people’s homes or institutions. The lack of anti-corrosive treatment in the water caused the lead piping to break down and leach lead into the water. It is also believed that many cases of Legionnaires’ disease are directly connected to the tainted water.
Effects
Health Concerns
Due to the lead leaching into Flint tap water, people were consuming water with amounts of lead that were past the legal limit of the EPA. This can lead to lead poisoning and other public health issues.
Figure 1. Lead PPB Present in Various Water Sources. A visual of how much lead in parts per billion were present in water from Detroit compared to water from the Flint River (Flint Lead Crisis)
High levels of lead can cause immediate and long-term health problems. Some immediate problems include hair loss, constipation, nausea, vomiting, and extreme abdominal pains. Learning disabilities, slow growth, fatigue, loss of appetite, hyperactivity, irritability, and memory loss are just a few long-term problems. Due to the contamination, there was a drastic increase of children with elevated blood-lead levels, from 2% in 2013 to 6% in 2015. There is a possibility of these symptoms to pass to future generations as well
Legionnaire’s disease was another problem associated with contamination in the water.
Legionnaires’ disease is a form of pneumonia that is present in both potable and non-potable water. It has been responsible for 7 deaths, and over 100 people affected directly from the contaminated water.
Social Effects
Concerns about health issues caused by city water started to come to light in January of 2015. LeeAnne Walters, a resident of Flint and mother of 4, brought bottles of discolored tap water to a community meeting. Her 18-year-old daughter experienced hair loss, 14-year-old son experienced abdominal pain so severe that he had to be taken to a hospital on many occasions, and her 3-year-old twins experienced rashes after taking showers, along with a slow in growth. Walters herself experienced loss of eyelashes. (Lurie)
In February, EPA manager Miquel Del Toral detected lead levels at the home of Walters house seven times greater than the EPA’s acceptable limit. This lead the Flint City Council members to vote to reconnect with Detroit water services. This was overruled by Jerry Ambrose due to his concern of higher water rates. Water from four more homes were tested by Virginia Tech scientists, and were all found to have extremely high levels of lead. (CNN)
The mayor of Flint at the time, Dayne Walling, went on live local television and drank Flint tap water. This was in order to convince residents that the water from Flint was safe to drink and that there was nothing to worry about. Following this, Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality tells Michigan Public Radio that “Anyone who is concerned about lead in the drinking water in Flint can relax”. Two months later, Virginia Tech’s water study team revealed that about 40% of Flint homes have elevated levels of lead. Along with this, pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha from Hurley Medical Center released a study that showed an increase in number of children with high blood-lead levels after the water source switch. (CNN)
After the city government failed to acknowledge the lead contamination issue, a distrust began to form between them and the residents of Flint. Multiple investigations were opened on the issues, and several lawsuits were filed against government officials. This was followed by the city to be declared in a state of emergency on January 5th, 2016 by Rick Snyder, Government of Michigan. This was followed by Barack Obama declaring a federal state of emergency for Flint, which allowed additional help from the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. (CNN)
Environmental Racism
Environmental racism is a term used to describe in justice in an environment based of a racialized context. In some context, it refers to intentional discrimination against minorities on issues in the presence of unfavorable environmental conditions. (Daniel Lombroso and Vann R. Newkirk II)
Some advocates of the Flint crisis believed that there was a play of environmental racism at play when action was being taken in order to resolve the water contamination issues. Flint is comprised of just under 60% African Americans, with over 40% of people living under the poverty line. (Martinez) One notable advocated behind this idea is Hilary Clinton. “We’ve had a city in the United States of America where the population which is poor in many ways, and majority African-American has been drinking and bathing in lead contaminated water and the governor of that state acted as though he didn’t really care. He had requests for help that he basically stonewalled. 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.” Hilary’s statement of how she believed better action wasn’t being provided was based off the core of environmental racism. (Roberto Acosta)
Solution
Water Bottle and Water Filters
A temporary and immediate solution to the issue would be to use potable water sourced from water bottles. Although water bottles contain small amounts of water, it is a much better alternative to lead contaminated water. Another solution would be to use water filters. However, water filters that are specialized for filtering lead come at a much higher price than an average Brita filter. Flint is one of the poorest cities in the United States, with over 40% of people living under the poverty line. This would make it hard to be able for people to afford water bottles, let alone an expensive water filter. These people may not even have a way to obtain these goods, so this solution is not very feasible.
Change in Water Source
This would be the best solution to fix the water contamination issues. If the water source is changed from the toxic Flint River to a fresh and treated water source, residents in Flint would be able to get much safer water in their homes then they are currently getting. A source that is to resist corrosion factors would be beneficial to prevent lead from pipe lines to be leached into the water. A great alternative to the Flint River would be the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA). A 30-year contract with GLWA is currently being negotiated to provide water to Flint.
Installation of New Pipes
Installation of new pipes to replace old lead pipes installed in the early 1900s made of lead would be the final step in order to fix the tainted water. Michigan has granted the city a $87 million-dollar grant to replace existing lead pipes with materials less harmful to humans. These include plastic or cast-iron pipes, as these are less likely to cause public health safety concerns if they leach into the water source. It is estimated that all pipes will be complete in under 20 years, and over 2000 houses have already been converted.