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Getting Hit While Down01-19-16 | News

Getting Hit While Down
Contaminated Drinking Water Is Latest of Flint, Michigan's Miseries

Exposure to elevated levels of lead such as those found in the water supply of Flint, Mich., can adversely affect nearly every system in a child's body according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

What's a decimated town to do? Flint, Mich., whose precipitous downturn served as the backdrop to Michael Moore's seminal 1989 documentary, Roger and Me, and whose continued slide through the Great Recession left about 40 percent of its population currently living below the poverty line, recently suffered another serious blow: the contamination of their drinking water supply, which was switched in a cost-cutting move in 2014 from Detroit's system to one of their own making.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder requested that a federal disaster be declared for the entire Genesee County and that Washington provide aid in the form of individual assistance and public assistance to help residents and government entities. President Obama responded by declaring a federal emergency instead since disaster declarations are only used in instances of natural disasters.

At the root of the problem are high levels of lead, which is thought to be the result of the deadly element leaching from aging pipelines due to the corrosive water of the Flint River, the new source of the town's drinking supply while a pipeline to Lake Huron is being built.

And but for the actions of public entities, this alarming situation could have been severely curtailed. The Associated Press reports that residents began complaining shortly after the switch but officials deemed the water to be safe, and disputed the tests showing elevated levels of lead in the blood of local children. A public health emergency was declared by the county on Oct. 1 of last year but allegations of inaccurate information and infighting between state agencies delayed the state's emergency declaration for more than three months.

Short-term solutions outlined by Snyder, who activated the Michigan National Guard to assist with distributing supplies, include a 90-day supply of clean drinking water, home filters, filter cartridges and testing kits.

"We are working closely with Genesee County and the Flint community, taking actions to immediately improve the water situation in Flint," assures Snyder.