Michigan National Guard Zach Burrell © Rebecca Cook _ Reuters
Great, wonderful, effective, sad (and even strange) things are happening in this Flint Water Crisis.
Great in that people are taking notice. Even a few people Michigan natives from our previous write up (rap artists Big Sean and Meek Mill) have contributed to the crisis.
Wonderful in that the town 99k residents of which 57% is black and 40% are getting clean water by the droves.
Effective in that 66% of the nation are online. But collectively, radio and television media along with online news media bloggers and online mags like ours, are shaking and waking some things up as, no longer is world news media filtered through the thin funnels of just television and radio like long ago. Online media outlets like ours are getting things moving out here as, each and every day this whole Flint water crisis is slowing looking like a part in an Erin Brochovich movie (starring Julia Roberts) where upon working for a law firm, she’d come across secret documents of an illegal lead water crisis and blew the whistle and well—the rest is history. And that my dear was a true story.
Although sad in that not only is this dirty water crisis exclusive to residential homes, but we also forgot about hospitals…and nursing homes…and other health care facilities that too, rely on clean water!
Did you know that this whole dirty water issue’s been brewing since April 2014 yet, the alarm wasn’t ran on this whole filthy thing until January 5, 2016? Unfortunately, in between this time (almost like in the Erin Brockovich story) approximately 9,000 in Michigan are lead poisoned.
RT.com reports:
The problem with Flint’s water began in April 2014, when the city switched from Detroit’s water supply to water from the Flint River in a cost-cutting measure. Despite the water having high salt content, it was piped untreated into homes and offices. The salt corroded the lead in the pipes, causing the water to become contaminated. Residents then began complaining about dirty water with a bad smell and taste, as high lead levels started appearing in the blood samples of children.
The city switched back to Detroit’s water supply in October, but only after months of complaints and protest from residents, who were angry that