The small town of Flint, Michigan, has come into the limelight recently due to a tragic oversight by the state government.
For 18 months, Flint’s main source of water has been from the Flint River, a source recently revealed to be toxic.
This water will have detrimental effects on the citizens who have lived there.
The City of Flint, described by Hillary Clinton as a struggling industrial town where 41 percent of residents live under the poverty line, attempted to cut costs, and has in turn cost the city immeasurable damage.
Gov. Rick Snyder claims that the government had no idea of the toxicity of the water, and as soon as they did they began immediate damage control.
CNN reported citizens complained the water had a funny color and smell. But officials didn’t believe it was a problem.
The toxicity came from high amounts of lead in the water. And every citizen of the small Michigan town consumed the water from Flint River.
High levels of lead in the bloodstream result in medical issues like sight, hearing and memory loss. It has been shown to affect development in children, resulting in lower IQs and learning disabilities.
All of this could have been avoided if the water had been treated with an anti-corrosive agent, which CNN claims would have solved 90 percent of the problems with Flint’s water.
The state’s Department of Environmental Quality faces a class action suit.
Everyone from the Michigan governor to Hillary Clinton seems to be looking where to lay the blame, but the cause of this tragedy is a familiar one.
A town, down on its luck, not unlike hundreds of industrial towns in this country, looked for a way to save money. People in difficult circumstances are once again made the victim by a government unable to care for them.
It is a tragedy of inexcusable proportions. The children of this town have literally been poisoned, and their government did nothing to help until it was too late.
It is yet another example of a system that leaves children of poverty in the dust. It perpetuates a cycle of poverty, and devalues the lives of the human beings who have to endure it.
Not only is it morally unjust, but it comes back to bite us all in the next generation.
Now, instead of saving money, the cost of living in Flint will rise due to the extreme health deficiencies from this long-term exposure to lead.
They will see a spike in criminal activity, as high levels of lead have been linked to criminality, Flint pediatrician Hanna-Attisha said.
“If you were to put something in a population to keep them down for generation and generations to come, it would be lead.”
@jordrile@indiana.edu
@RiledUpIDS
