Water crisis continues to wreak havoc in Flint

Flint used to be a bustling city on the rise. It was the thriving home of General Motors, hence the term “Vehicle City.”

Now the atmosphere is similar to that of a ghost town with little activity and an eerie silence.

It also happens to be among the poorest cities in America.

To make matters worse, after the city switched its water system from Detroit’s water system to Flint’s water system in April 2014, the citizens of Flint began to notice discoloration of their water and the side effects as a result of using it.

People began to develop rashes, lose hair, and contract illness and diseases, raising suspicions of tainted water.

There were 15 recorded deaths resulting from the affects from the water.

Many public figures such as Michael Moore, documentary filmmaker, fought against the problem. This helped to support the citizens and encouraged coverage from news organizations.

While CNN and other broadcasts brought up the topic, more important groups did not.

It took the local, state, and federal governments over a year to even recognize the issue.

In 2015, Virginia Tech University discovered the unsafe levels of lead in residents’ homes.

It was to everyone’s dismay that by not putting anti-corrosive agents — which would prevent the corrosion in the pipes — into the water supply, the government was corroding the lead pipes and polluting the water. Over 100,000 people, all who were using water for day-to-day activities, were affected.

Mrs. LeAnne Walters, an alumna of KHS and former editor at The Eclipse, played a key role in getting to the bottom of the crisis.

During this time, Walters stated that her home was ground zero for lead contamination.

The water in her home tested at 104 parts per billion lead in February 2015 while the federal law for quality drinking water requires that the absolute maximum should be less than 15 ppb.

But it got worse.

Just four months later in June, Walters’ water tested at more than 13,000 ppb.

Walters and her family aren’t the only citizens to have been plagued by the unbearable conditions.

Children and adults alike have been poisoned by the lead in Flint’s water, making it difficult to live inside their homes. They use the water to bathe, cook, brush their teeth, and feed their pets.

In order to stay safe from the contaminated water supply, Flint citizens were able to pick up bottled water from water supply stations. Flint citizens were able to pick up free bottled water beginning in January 2016, and this program ended in April 2018.

After more than four years of this terrible situation, the Flint community is still fighting back.