10 Things You Probably Don't Know About The Water Debacle In Flint, Michigan
Saturday, January 30, 2016
Everyone knows that in order to save money, several government officials in Michigan decided to switch the city's water supply from a fresh source to a local river with polluted water. MichaelMoore.com reported the basic facts of what happened:
"... the Republican governor, Rick Snyder, nullified the free elections in Flint, deposed the mayor and city council, then appointed his own man to run the city. To save money, they decided to unhook the people of Flint from their fresh water drinking source, Lake Huron, and instead, make the public drink from the toxic Flint River. When the governor’s office discovered just how toxic the water was, they decided to keep quiet about it and covered up the extent of the damage being done to Flint’s residents, most notably the lead affecting the children, causing irreversible and permanent brain damage. Citizen activists uncovered these actions..."
The site also listed 10 items you probably don't know:
"1. While the Children in Flint Were Given Poisoned Water to Drink, General Motors Was Given a Special Hookup to the Clean Water. A few months after Governor Snyder removed Flint from the clean fresh water we had been drinking for decades, the brass from General Motors went to him and complained..."
"3. There’s More Than the Lead in Flint’s Water. In addition to exposing every child in the city of Flint to lead poisoning on a daily basis, there appears to be a number of other diseases we may be hearing about in the months ahead. The number of cases in Flint of Legionnaires Disease has increased tenfold since the switch to the river water. Eighty-seven people have come down with it, and at least ten have died. In the five years before the river water, not a single person in Flint had died of Legionnaires Disease..."
"5. While They Were Being Poisoned, They Were Also Being Bombed. Here’s a story which has received little or no coverage outside of Flint. During these two years of water contamination, residents in Flint have had to contend with a decision made by the Pentagon to use Flint for target practice. Literally. Actual unannounced military exercises – complete with live ammo and explosives..."
Read the complete list of 10 items. I would add an eleventh item. The Atlantic reported:
"According to documents obtained by Progress Michigan on Thursday, state employees in Flint were provided coolers filled with bottled water in January of 2015 as concerns continued grew about the quality of the water there. The notice was issued months before the state officials first demonstrated awareness of the problem. Six months later, in July, Dennis Muchmore, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s former chief of staff, wrote an email to a health official in which he expressed frustration that Flint residents “are basically getting blown off by us” over their concerns about the water. That was still two months before a lead advisory was issued in Flint when researchers found high lead levels in the residents’ bloodstreams..."
This is a sign that austerity programs fail. This is a mugging of a city and its residents. How many people must be poisoned or dead before the government officials are held accountable, arrested, and jailed?
When will the U.S. Congress take action? So far it hasn't. Many citizens around the United States are angry and want action. You can find this meme circulating online: