One thing that sticks out about both the Love Canal and Flint Water crisis is the inability of the local governments to take necessary action. In Flint, the problems started in 2011 when Flint's water supply was changed from Lake Huron to the Flint River, which was known to be filthy and polluted. The corrosive water, which local officials failed to treat, got into the drinking water and caused the citizens to get sick. Yet, government officials refused to admit they had made a mistake and maintained innocence all along. Now, several years later, the real truth is coming out. It was found that Mike Glasgow, the supervisor at the Flint water treatment facilities, tapered with test results and changed the lead readings in an official report. He failed to do his job and the citizens of Flint paid for his mistakes. Mike Prysby, a member of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality gave a permit to the water treatment facility knowing that they could't provide clean, safe drinking water. He also mislead county and federal officials to thinking the water was safe and conspired to change test results. Both Prysby and his colleague Stephen Busch directed residents to flush their taps before the water samples were collected. This is a violation of the Safe Drinking Act and is an obvious way to manipulate test results. The Flint Water Crisis is just one of many examples of government officials and heads not caring about their citizens, just about themselves. They try to the least work possible and if that means putting blame on other people or risking the lives of their citizens, they will do. They don't care, and that's a problem.
The one thing that stuck out the most is the issues of government officials. There was a true lack of knowledge between these high power government official. After reading about this issue online, I can see that even government officials from the Environmental Protection Agency were forced to resign because they were either not knowledgeable enough to fix the problem or they were aware of the problem and did nothing about it. The fact that our government can be so naive about an issue that is causing people's lives to be changed forever is shocking. The main concern in Flit was lead in the water, which could easily be tested and seen. These lead pipes were used because they were cheaper for the city to purchase. If this was the case why did it take the government such a long time to respond and why were they turning a blind eye to the issue? We might never find an answer to these questions but we do know that the people that were effected by these poor decisions will live their lives forever in doubt of their government.
The aspect of the Flint Water Crisis that resonated with me most was the economic intent behind every reform. There was little to no consideration on how the citizens of Flint would be impacted by their decisions. Political figures shifted the gears in order to consider economics because Flint was not producing enough money to make up for what they waste. In this approach, lives were harmed. This goes to show that a quantitative alleviation of conflict can often times create gargantuan problems that are hard to formulate solution for. This also speaks to the hierarchy of interest in American politics. The protection of economic stability matters more than saving citizens and provide them access to basic human needs such as clean water. Although we base language of law on the people and the needs of these people, reform in times of economic desperation clearly reflects that the needs of the people do not come first. Also, the Department of Environmental Quality never tested the water source to establish its quality before it was provided to the people , which is against federal law, yet no one has been charged for their actions and there have been little to no repercussion . Again, this is a representative of hierarchy in American politics because protection of political figures took a backseat to properly handling law breaking .
The biggest issue about the Flint Water Crisis that we talked about was the government incompetence at multiple levels. The fact that they never checked any of the levels or even contemplated the risks involved. Also about how the governor decided to bypass state regulatory laws in order to save money for the state. This move cost him his career, the state millions of dollars, and even worse, the lives of countless children in the future after they have been poisoned. It is sometimes very difficult to assess future risk while in the present but the Flint Water Crisis seemed like such a major governmental oversight that it really should have been caught. It is such a shame that human lives have been damaged irreparably due to obvious screw ups at such a high level.
A major commonality between the Love Canal and Flint Water crises is the lack of government initiative. In the case of the Flint Water Crisis, the government officials did not think about the citizens but were instead focusing on how to get the cheapest water. The Flint government decided to get their water from KWA but knew that it would not be available for immediate use. The reason they went with KWA was that it was the cheaper option and Flint was also in a financial crisis at the time. When Flint decided to get their water from KWA, Detroit water ended their current contract and suddenly Flint did not have a water source other than the Flint River. The Flint River is known for being dirty and officials knew that there could be problems with lead in the water. The government officials chose the easiest way to solve the crisis instead of thinking about what is best for the people. In the case of the Love Canal, chemical waste was disposed of in a pit and then once the pit was covered in clay, the land was purchased and turned into a school. The school board knowingly put students in harm’s way by building a school over a chemical wasteland. The government only relocated some of the people that lived near the school leaving the others that were deemed as being not as at risk to live on a chemical wasteland. The consequences were high white blood cell counts (a precursor to leukemia and chromosomal damage), birth defects, and epilepsy. The severity of both of these situations could have been much less if the government officials had been more diligent in their decision making.
The one that stuck out to me the most was learning that Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan resigned because he was not able to make the best decisions for the people of Michigan. He focused on the economic aspect of the situation rather than focusing on what the what was most important for the people. According to multiple sources, the governor and the EPA was to blame for the lead leakage in the water. This lead contamination were getting into people's homes, schools, and offices. I just do not understand how the government can let something like this get this far. This just demonstrates the lack of professionalism and responsibility within the government. They didn't do their jobs of testing the water before allowing the people to have it. The government should be more careful when it comes to people's health and not only focus on the economics aspect of the state.
The biggest thing that I took away from both the Flint water crisis and the Love Canal was the role that politics played in creating the prolonging the problem. The governments inability and lack of care lead to many people being negatively affected. They first created the problems by not doing enough research. In the Flint water crisis they did not check the water for any pollution. This lead to people drinking polluted water and many people getting sick. The government was also slow in detecting the problems and determining what the causes were. When it was finally discover what the issues were and what were causing them, it still took way too long to do anything about it. In these cases the government put the people they are suppose to protect in harms way.
The Flint water crisis was a very interesting case to learn about because it makes an important point about the perception of negative effects on the environment. From my experience, many people don’t pay much attention to environmental problems unless the effects of the problem are very clearly evident in everyday life. This is even more true when large corporations are involved. When a massive company creates environmental damage, two things will usually happen. The first is that the company will try to cover up as much of the problem as they can. This means that it will be easier to overlook the effects the company is having on the environment and that by the time the damage is easily noticeable, the its extent will be much greater. The second is that if the company is important enough or providing enough local jobs, similarly to the case of Flint, when the damaging effects are noticed, many people will turn a blind eye until it becomes an even larger problem with irreversible effects. Flint is an example of both of these corporate effects, and was interesting to learn about to see just how terrible the consequences of turning a blind eye to corporations can be.
I never knew much about the Flint Water Crisis, only that there was a town that’s water was contaminated and the government was possibly aware and chose to ignore. However, the discussion in class made me realize how bad the water contamination was and is. What I found simply appalling was the lack of intervention from the government on all levels. Although there is currently aid for the citizens of Flint Michigan, it is two years later that the state government has responded and the federal government. It also is unimaginable that it took over a year for the mayor of Flint do declare a state of emergency due to the water contamination. Action should have been taken much earlier and many peoples health would have been spared. However, the lack of response is not the only issue. The fact that water samples were not taken before changing water sources for a whole town in inexcusable. Due to the step that was skipped, many people are now in poor health, especially children. I learned so much about the Flint water crisis that I did not know before and the whole situation I find simply appalling.
I found the history of the Love Canal to be quite interesting, the story of the Love Canal perfectly illustrates how differently we care for our environment. The Love Canal, for a span of 11 years (1942-1953), was used to dump chemical waste. This had a large health affects on the neighborhood near by. Then do to a number of rainstorms and blizzards, the chemicals overflew into homes and public playgrounds, exposing the residents of these chemicals. Starting in the 1970s, an overwhelming amount of people living in the Love Canal neighborhood began becoming ill and having birth defects along with miscarriages. The Love Canal crisis brought to light situations that were happening all over our country. The disaster caused for numerous laws to be placed in trying to ensure the health of local residents. In the past, dumping waste into our bodies of water was an universal act. We didnt know what was going into our water. In todays society, we regulate and maintain our water to make sure that the water we are using is safe.
What I learned about the Flint water crisis is that it started out with a failed business deal, where Flint decided to produce their water supply instead of using one through Detroit. The only problem is that this source was not readily available for use so they had to use some old pipes to draw water out of the local river. This river has a lot of chlorine in it that caused the lead in the pipes to enter the water. Then the citizens of Flint drank this contaminated water and became very ill. It took a long amount of time before the citizens were warned of the dangers in their water. This does not surprise me because the USA is one of the worst first world countries when it comes to taking care of their citizens’ health. European countries go by if it might be unhealthy it is not going on the market but in the USA it is the opposite. There has to be overwhelming amount of evidence before the government takes action.
The Flint water crisis is a prime example of government laziness and entitlement. What occurred in Flint was disastrous and caused massive amounts of trauma to hundreds of families. When this instance first occurred, the government, local and even national should have taken action to put a halt to what was going on. Due to the company’s lack of attention to detail, people’s lives were affected and the government did not take action soon enough to prevent further injury. Even though there is assistance being given now, it is two years after the fact that the government is taking initiative for change. It is quite possible that because of the amount of jobs and capital that the company was bringing in at the time, this issue was brushed under the rug and people in power turned the other way in order for personal benefit. It is the government’s responsibility to take care of its people and in the case of the Flint water crisis, they didn’t live up to that responsibility.
The Flint Water crisis has a lot of similarities with Toms River in relation to government intervention. In both instances the government was aware of the issues and did little to prevent, stop or help out afterwards. Due to wanting to save time and money old water pipes were used to direct water from the Flint river since the area no longer got their water from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. This lead to extreme water contamination including lead which has detrimental health effects. There have been multiple lawsuits against the government for these issues and their reluctancy to help. Flint has been declared to be in a state of crisis. The government needed to be more cautious and less ignorant in the first place but now that the damage is done they need to be proactive. Like in the Toms River issue the government waited so long and did so little many lives were affected and still are to this day. Hopefully with the Flint Water Crisis the government will do more to stop these issues and will reimburse the people of Flint more so than they did with Toms River.
When discussing the Flint water crisis, I learned to what extent the government abused their power. The Flint water crisis occurred because the city of Flint, Michigan changed their water source from Detroit water to the Flint River. This new source of water was contaminated with lead, which caused a massive public health issue within the city of Flint. However, the supervisor of the Flint treatment, Mike Glasgow was accused of changing the results of a report that tested the level of lead in the water. Additionally, Mike Prysby, who works for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, is said to have allowed the permit for the Flint Water Treatment Plant, while knowing that it would not supply safe water to the community. Therefore, these accusations show that both Glasgow and Prysby failed to appropriately do their jobs, and put their personal interests above the community’s. Furthermore, many Flint residents want to see people who hold higher-level government positions held accountable, such as Governor Ricky Snyder. I found this crisis extremely interesting because it exposed government corruption.
During our discussion of the Flint Water crisis I learned some very interesting things. The major takeaway from our talk was how badly the government failed the people of Flint. The government knew that switching water sources from Lake Michigan to the Flint River posed health risks. It was well known that the Flint River had become chlorinated and polluted as a result of automobile manufacturing. However, the government decided to ignore these issues in order to save money and promote self interests. It then took over two years for the state and national governments to acknowledge the severity of their mistakes. However, thousands of lives had already been dramatically affected at that point. Most of the damage is done and is irreversible. It was unfortunate to hear that trusted people in the government had failed the people they vowed to serve.
In regards to the Flint water crisis, it presents the environmental stress pressed upon society and the long term affects of ignoring a major issue. Since the environmental quality department denied treatment towards the water due to a lack of importance, children and families were continuously put at risk for two years until they took initiative in order to resolve this prolonged estate. The presence of lead and other harmful minerals in a chain of water supply negatively affects the healthcare of people. For instance, the children who drink from Flint River ingested lead and are at risk of losing precious knowledge due to the blood lead level of concentration. This abnormal substance being ingested could possibly decrease the IQ points of children and affect the future of genius's and prodigies. It is dangerously spread throughout society like a disease, because water is not only consumed at home, but schools and other facilities provide water from the harmful water supply, causing greater chance that children will have increased blood levels. If the issue had been addressed as a initial priority the crisis could have been entirely avoided, without risking the health of local communities who rely on the water supply as a source of life. In my opinion, the transition of water supplies from the Flint River to another source should have been done immediately after declaring the emergence of the crisis.
The Flint Michigan water crisis is a prime example of the failures of local and federal government. When a water company wants to make a change in the pipes it is using, switching back to an old pipe system, shouldn’t the first thought on a public servant’s mind be, “Is that safe?” In Flint’s case, it wasn’t, and it’s a lesson that should be heeded by the rest of the country. With such widespread impact on the lives of so many people, you would think that the federal government would have immediately asserted its authority and rectified the problem. You would be wrong, as it would take weeks for a representative from the federal government to even visit Flint to assess the damage. It is apparent that from the bottom up the issues in Flint Michigan could have been completely avoided had politicians put the best interest of the public in front of their own self interests.
The Flint water crisis was largely a result of government inefficiency and apathy. Instead trying to find safe-high quality water for the citizens of Flint, government officials in the area were primarily focused on finding the cheapest way to get water to Flint households. This concentration on economics resulted in negligence when it came to water quality. If the water had been tested like it was legally required to be, it would have been proven to be unsafe to drink. On the national level, it took the Environmental Protection Agency a very long time to get to Flint to test the safety of the water once it had been reported that there was a potential problem. The water crisis needed to be fixed immediately because every day there were people, particularly children, in Flint drinking this unsafe water and suffering severe consequences in terms of their health as a result of drinking this poisonous water. It was not addressed in an appropriate time frame because of slow and inefficient government processes and the greed of several key government officials.
I learned many interesting facts about the Flint water crisis during our class discussion. The government of Flint was interested in saving money and when their plan to build new pipes didn’t work out they opted to switch the water supply from the Michigan Lake to the Flint River. It was known by most of the government officials in Flint that the river was contaminated, yet they still made the decision. The river was polluted from all the waste the car manufacturing plants were producing. The river had high amounts of chlorine and officials knew if residents were exposed to this there could be long term effects, like illness or even cancer. A car manufacturing plant noticed the water they were using was corroding the metal parts. Finally two years later they finally switched to a safer water supply. How could the government let people drink this water when they were fully aware of its negative effects?
I learned about how serious the crisis has been in Flint Michigan and how political decisions can affect our natural resources. I understand why certain political decisions were taken as Flint is a poor city; however, I don't think the politicians understood the effects of their money saving policies could have on the environment. I was also surprised to learn how ineffective the government was in even responding to the crisis. Furthermore, it is shocking that the EPA took a year to go to Flint Michigan to access the damages as they are an agency that deals with issues pertaining to the environment. This crisis should have been resolved with in a matter of weeks as the water supply should have been switched back to Lake Michigan, where the water supply was gotten beforehand. I think this speaks to larger issues of government inefficiency and environmental protection and public health policies.
The Flint Michigan crisis is a clear example of why environmental issues need to be among the top priorities of the acting government. It is unacceptable at the rashness of the decisions made. Originally pipes were being made, and because things didn't work out they immediately decided to with back to an old pipe line system leading to The Flint River, and this just seems absolutely ridiculous. I think that this shows how unimportant the Flint River was, because why would they have a known river of contamination. This stands to the idea that the environment takes a back seat to other issues. There is no reason that the Flint River should have been left contaminated for all this time, especially with how handy the river would have been had it been a clean source, to have as a backup when the new pipes didn't work according to plan. I think the entire Flint River crisis is a testament as to how unserious environmental policies were being taken.
The Flint Michigan water crisis is a clear example of how state and federal officials' ignorance have brought upon a massive public health crisis in the state of Michigan. Due to Flint's high poverty line, officials have been avoiding the people's need for better water supply. The supply pipes were corroding where lead was leaching off into the supply of water. And it was found that there were high blood levels of lead which can cause learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and mental illnesses. Due to the lack and care of the Flint RIver such that where contamination was caused by the waste of the car manufacturing plants, many residents of Flint, Michigan were affected. I don’t understand how state officials let the contamination of a river, where drinking water is supplied, has been left without any care or notice. How can they have left the source of drinking water unregulated? I believe that a neighborhood where poverty is an issue shouldn’t be an excuse for the officials to slack and not give much attention to. Whereas, it should be the most focused area in improving the living conditions of the people. Ignorance and avoidance will only lead to increased poverty and the depletion of our surround environment.
One thing that sticks out about both the Love Canal and Flint Water crisis is the inability of the local governments to take necessary action. In Flint, the problems started in 2011 when Flint's water supply was changed from Lake Huron to the Flint River, which was known to be filthy and polluted. The corrosive water, which local officials failed to treat, got into the drinking water and caused the citizens to get sick. Yet, government officials refused to admit they had made a mistake and maintained innocence all along. Now, several years later, the real truth is coming out. It was found that Mike Glasgow, the supervisor at the Flint water treatment facilities, tapered with test results and changed the lead readings in an official report. He failed to do his job and the citizens of Flint paid for his mistakes. Mike Prysby, a member of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality gave a permit to the water treatment facility knowing that they could't provide clean, safe drinking water. He also mislead county and federal officials to thinking the water was safe and conspired to change test results. Both Prysby and his colleague Stephen Busch directed residents to flush their taps before the water samples were collected. This is a violation of the Safe Drinking Act and is an obvious way to manipulate test results. The Flint Water Crisis is just one of many examples of government officials and heads not caring about their citizens, just about themselves. They try to the least work possible and if that means putting blame on other people or risking the lives of their citizens, they will do. They don't care, and that's a problem.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing that stuck out the most is the issues of government officials. There was a true lack of knowledge between these high power government official. After reading about this issue online, I can see that even government officials from the Environmental Protection Agency were forced to resign because they were either not knowledgeable enough to fix the problem or they were aware of the problem and did nothing about it. The fact that our government can be so naive about an issue that is causing people's lives to be changed forever is shocking. The main concern in Flit was lead in the water, which could easily be tested and seen. These lead pipes were used because they were cheaper for the city to purchase. If this was the case why did it take the government such a long time to respond and why were they turning a blind eye to the issue? We might never find an answer to these questions but we do know that the people that were effected by these poor decisions will live their lives forever in doubt of their government.
ReplyDeleteThe aspect of the Flint Water Crisis that resonated with me most was the economic intent behind every reform. There was little to no consideration on how the citizens of Flint would be impacted by their decisions. Political figures shifted the gears in order to consider economics because Flint was not producing enough money to make up for what they waste. In this approach, lives were harmed. This goes to show that a quantitative alleviation of conflict can often times create gargantuan problems that are hard to formulate solution for. This also speaks to the hierarchy of interest in American politics. The protection of economic stability matters more than saving citizens and provide them access to basic human needs such as clean water. Although we base language of law on the people and the needs of these people, reform in times of economic desperation clearly reflects that the needs of the people do not come first. Also, the Department of Environmental Quality never tested the water source to establish its quality before it was provided to the people , which is against federal law, yet no one has been charged for their actions and there have been little to no repercussion . Again, this is a representative of hierarchy in American politics because protection of political figures took a backseat to properly handling law breaking .
ReplyDeleteThe biggest issue about the Flint Water Crisis that we talked about was the government incompetence at multiple levels. The fact that they never checked any of the levels or even contemplated the risks involved. Also about how the governor decided to bypass state regulatory laws in order to save money for the state. This move cost him his career, the state millions of dollars, and even worse, the lives of countless children in the future after they have been poisoned. It is sometimes very difficult to assess future risk while in the present but the Flint Water Crisis seemed like such a major governmental oversight that it really should have been caught. It is such a shame that human lives have been damaged irreparably due to obvious screw ups at such a high level.
ReplyDeleteA major commonality between the Love Canal and Flint Water crises is the lack of government initiative. In the case of the Flint Water Crisis, the government officials did not think about the citizens but were instead focusing on how to get the cheapest water. The Flint government decided to get their water from KWA but knew that it would not be available for immediate use. The reason they went with KWA was that it was the cheaper option and Flint was also in a financial crisis at the time. When Flint decided to get their water from KWA, Detroit water ended their current contract and suddenly Flint did not have a water source other than the Flint River. The Flint River is known for being dirty and officials knew that there could be problems with lead in the water. The government officials chose the easiest way to solve the crisis instead of thinking about what is best for the people. In the case of the Love Canal, chemical waste was disposed of in a pit and then once the pit was covered in clay, the land was purchased and turned into a school. The school board knowingly put students in harm’s way by building a school over a chemical wasteland. The government only relocated some of the people that lived near the school leaving the others that were deemed as being not as at risk to live on a chemical wasteland. The consequences were high white blood cell counts (a precursor to leukemia and chromosomal damage), birth defects, and epilepsy. The severity of both of these situations could have been much less if the government officials had been more diligent in their decision making.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/05/nyregion/after-10-years-the-trauma-of-love-canal-continues.html
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/05/nyregion/after-10-years-the-trauma-of-love-canal-continues.html
The one that stuck out to me the most was learning that Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan resigned because he was not able to make the best decisions for the people of Michigan. He focused on the economic aspect of the situation rather than focusing on what the what was most important for the people. According to multiple sources, the governor and the EPA was to blame for the lead leakage in the water. This lead contamination were getting into people's homes, schools, and offices. I just do not understand how the government can let something like this get this far. This just demonstrates the lack of professionalism and responsibility within the government. They didn't do their jobs of testing the water before allowing the people to have it. The government should be more careful when it comes to people's health and not only focus on the economics aspect of the state.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest thing that I took away from both the Flint water crisis and the Love Canal was the role that politics played in creating the prolonging the problem. The governments inability and lack of care lead to many people being negatively affected. They first created the problems by not doing enough research. In the Flint water crisis they did not check the water for any pollution. This lead to people drinking polluted water and many people getting sick. The government was also slow in detecting the problems and determining what the causes were. When it was finally discover what the issues were and what were causing them, it still took way too long to do anything about it. In these cases the government put the people they are suppose to protect in harms way.
ReplyDeleteThe Flint water crisis was a very interesting case to learn about because it makes an important point about the perception of negative effects on the environment. From my experience, many people don’t pay much attention to environmental problems unless the effects of the problem are very clearly evident in everyday life. This is even more true when large corporations are involved. When a massive company creates environmental damage, two things will usually happen. The first is that the company will try to cover up as much of the problem as they can. This means that it will be easier to overlook the effects the company is having on the environment and that by the time the damage is easily noticeable, the its extent will be much greater. The second is that if the company is important enough or providing enough local jobs, similarly to the case of Flint, when the damaging effects are noticed, many people will turn a blind eye until it becomes an even larger problem with irreversible effects. Flint is an example of both of these corporate effects, and was interesting to learn about to see just how terrible the consequences of turning a blind eye to corporations can be.
ReplyDeleteI never knew much about the Flint Water Crisis, only that there was a town that’s water was contaminated and the government was possibly aware and chose to ignore. However, the discussion in class made me realize how bad the water contamination was and is. What I found simply appalling was the lack of intervention from the government on all levels. Although there is currently aid for the citizens of Flint Michigan, it is two years later that the state government has responded and the federal government. It also is unimaginable that it took over a year for the mayor of Flint do declare a state of emergency due to the water contamination. Action should have been taken much earlier and many peoples health would have been spared. However, the lack of response is not the only issue. The fact that water samples were not taken before changing water sources for a whole town in inexcusable. Due to the step that was skipped, many people are now in poor health, especially children. I learned so much about the Flint water crisis that I did not know before and the whole situation I find simply appalling.
ReplyDeleteI found the history of the Love Canal to be quite interesting, the story of the Love Canal perfectly illustrates how differently we care for our environment. The Love Canal, for a span of 11 years (1942-1953), was used to dump chemical waste. This had a large health affects on the neighborhood near by. Then do to a number of rainstorms and blizzards, the chemicals overflew into homes and public playgrounds, exposing the residents of these chemicals. Starting in the 1970s, an overwhelming amount of people living in the Love Canal neighborhood began becoming ill and having birth defects along with miscarriages.
ReplyDeleteThe Love Canal crisis brought to light situations that were happening all over our country. The disaster caused for numerous laws to be placed in trying to ensure the health of local residents. In the past, dumping waste into our bodies of water was an universal act. We didnt know what was going into our water. In todays society, we regulate and maintain our water to make sure that the water we are using is safe.
What I learned about the Flint water crisis is that it started out with a failed business deal, where Flint decided to produce their water supply instead of using one through Detroit. The only problem is that this source was not readily available for use so they had to use some old pipes to draw water out of the local river. This river has a lot of chlorine in it that caused the lead in the pipes to enter the water. Then the citizens of Flint drank this contaminated water and became very ill. It took a long amount of time before the citizens were warned of the dangers in their water. This does not surprise me because the USA is one of the worst first world countries when it comes to taking care of their citizens’ health. European countries go by if it might be unhealthy it is not going on the market but in the USA it is the opposite. There has to be overwhelming amount of evidence before the government takes action.
ReplyDeleteThe Flint water crisis is a prime example of government laziness and entitlement. What occurred in Flint was disastrous and caused massive amounts of trauma to hundreds of families. When this instance first occurred, the government, local and even national should have taken action to put a halt to what was going on. Due to the company’s lack of attention to detail, people’s lives were affected and the government did not take action soon enough to prevent further injury. Even though there is assistance being given now, it is two years after the fact that the government is taking initiative for change. It is quite possible that because of the amount of jobs and capital that the company was bringing in at the time, this issue was brushed under the rug and people in power turned the other way in order for personal benefit. It is the government’s responsibility to take care of its people and in the case of the Flint water crisis, they didn’t live up to that responsibility.
ReplyDeleteThe Flint Water crisis has a lot of similarities with Toms River in relation to government intervention. In both instances the government was aware of the issues and did little to prevent, stop or help out afterwards. Due to wanting to save time and money old water pipes were used to direct water from the Flint river since the area no longer got their water from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. This lead to extreme water contamination including lead which has detrimental health effects. There have been multiple lawsuits against the government for these issues and their reluctancy to help. Flint has been declared to be in a state of crisis. The government needed to be more cautious and less ignorant in the first place but now that the damage is done they need to be proactive. Like in the Toms River issue the government waited so long and did so little many lives were affected and still are to this day. Hopefully with the Flint Water Crisis the government will do more to stop these issues and will reimburse the people of Flint more so than they did with Toms River.
ReplyDeleteWhen discussing the Flint water crisis, I learned to what extent the government abused their power. The Flint water crisis occurred because the city of Flint, Michigan changed their water source from Detroit water to the Flint River. This new source of water was contaminated with lead, which caused a massive public health issue within the city of Flint. However, the supervisor of the Flint treatment, Mike Glasgow was accused of changing the results of a report that tested the level of lead in the water. Additionally, Mike Prysby, who works for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, is said to have allowed the permit for the Flint Water Treatment Plant, while knowing that it would not supply safe water to the community. Therefore, these accusations show that both Glasgow and Prysby failed to appropriately do their jobs, and put their personal interests above the community’s. Furthermore, many Flint residents want to see people who hold higher-level government positions held accountable, such as Governor Ricky Snyder. I found this crisis extremely interesting because it exposed government corruption.
ReplyDeleteDuring our discussion of the Flint Water crisis I learned some very interesting things. The major takeaway from our talk was how badly the government failed the people of Flint. The government knew that switching water sources from Lake Michigan to the Flint River posed health risks. It was well known that the Flint River had become chlorinated and polluted as a result of automobile manufacturing. However, the government decided to ignore these issues in order to save money and promote self interests. It then took over two years for the state and national governments to acknowledge the severity of their mistakes. However, thousands of lives had already been dramatically affected at that point. Most of the damage is done and is irreversible. It was unfortunate to hear that trusted people in the government had failed the people they vowed to serve.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the Flint water crisis, it presents the environmental stress pressed upon society and the long term affects of ignoring a major issue. Since the environmental quality department denied treatment towards the water due to a lack of importance, children and families were continuously put at risk for two years until they took initiative in order to resolve this prolonged estate. The presence of lead and other harmful minerals in a chain of water supply negatively affects the healthcare of people. For instance, the children who drink from Flint River ingested lead and are at risk of losing precious knowledge due to the blood lead level of concentration. This abnormal substance being ingested could possibly decrease the IQ points of children and affect the future of genius's and prodigies. It is dangerously spread throughout society like a disease, because water is not only consumed at home, but schools and other facilities provide water from the harmful water supply, causing greater chance that children will have increased blood levels. If the issue had been addressed as a initial priority the crisis could have been entirely avoided, without risking the health of local communities who rely on the water supply as a source of life. In my opinion, the transition of water supplies from the Flint River to another source should have been done immediately after declaring the emergence of the crisis.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnn.com/2016/06/24/health/flint-water-lead-cdc-report/
The Flint Michigan water crisis is a prime example of the failures of local and federal government. When a water company wants to make a change in the pipes it is using, switching back to an old pipe system, shouldn’t the first thought on a public servant’s mind be, “Is that safe?” In Flint’s case, it wasn’t, and it’s a lesson that should be heeded by the rest of the country. With such widespread impact on the lives of so many people, you would think that the federal government would have immediately asserted its authority and rectified the problem. You would be wrong, as it would take weeks for a representative from the federal government to even visit Flint to assess the damage. It is apparent that from the bottom up the issues in Flint Michigan could have been completely avoided had politicians put the best interest of the public in front of their own self interests.
ReplyDeleteThe Flint water crisis was largely a result of government inefficiency and apathy. Instead trying to find safe-high quality water for the citizens of Flint, government officials in the area were primarily focused on finding the cheapest way to get water to Flint households. This concentration on economics resulted in negligence when it came to water quality. If the water had been tested like it was legally required to be, it would have been proven to be unsafe to drink. On the national level, it took the Environmental Protection Agency a very long time to get to Flint to test the safety of the water once it had been reported that there was a potential problem. The water crisis needed to be fixed immediately because every day there were people, particularly children, in Flint drinking this unsafe water and suffering severe consequences in terms of their health as a result of drinking this poisonous water. It was not addressed in an appropriate time frame because of slow and inefficient government processes and the greed of several key government officials.
ReplyDeleteI learned many interesting facts about the Flint water crisis during our class discussion. The government of Flint was interested in saving money and when their plan to build new pipes didn’t work out they opted to switch the water supply from the Michigan Lake to the Flint River. It was known by most of the government officials in Flint that the river was contaminated, yet they still made the decision. The river was polluted from all the waste the car manufacturing plants were producing. The river had high amounts of chlorine and officials knew if residents were exposed to this there could be long term effects, like illness or even cancer. A car manufacturing plant noticed the water they were using was corroding the metal parts. Finally two years later they finally switched to a safer water supply. How could the government let people drink this water when they were fully aware of its negative effects?
ReplyDeleteI learned about how serious the crisis has been in Flint Michigan and how political decisions can affect our natural resources. I understand why certain political decisions were taken as Flint is a poor city; however, I don't think the politicians understood the effects of their money saving policies could have on the environment. I was also surprised to learn how ineffective the government was in even responding to the crisis. Furthermore, it is shocking that the EPA took a year to go to Flint Michigan to access the damages as they are an agency that deals with issues pertaining to the environment. This crisis should have been resolved with in a matter of weeks as the water supply should have been switched back to Lake Michigan, where the water supply was gotten beforehand. I think this speaks to larger issues of government inefficiency and environmental protection and public health policies.
ReplyDeleteThe Flint Michigan crisis is a clear example of why environmental issues need to be among the top priorities of the acting government. It is unacceptable at the rashness of the decisions made. Originally pipes were being made, and because things didn't work out they immediately decided to with back to an old pipe line system leading to The Flint River, and this just seems absolutely ridiculous. I think that this shows how unimportant the Flint River was, because why would they have a known river of contamination. This stands to the idea that the environment takes a back seat to other issues. There is no reason that the Flint River should have been left contaminated for all this time, especially with how handy the river would have been had it been a clean source, to have as a backup when the new pipes didn't work according to plan. I think the entire Flint River crisis is a testament as to how unserious environmental policies were being taken.
ReplyDeleteThe Flint Michigan water crisis is a clear example of how state and federal officials' ignorance have brought upon a massive public health crisis in the state of Michigan. Due to Flint's high poverty line, officials have been avoiding the people's need for better water supply. The supply pipes were corroding where lead was leaching off into the supply of water. And it was found that there were high blood levels of lead which can cause learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and mental illnesses. Due to the lack and care of the Flint RIver such that where contamination was caused by the waste of the car manufacturing plants, many residents of Flint, Michigan were affected. I don’t understand how state officials let the contamination of a river, where drinking water is supplied, has been left without any care or notice. How can they have left the source of drinking water unregulated? I believe that a neighborhood where poverty is an issue shouldn’t be an excuse for the officials to slack and not give much attention to. Whereas, it should be the most focused area in improving the living conditions of the people. Ignorance and avoidance will only lead to increased poverty and the depletion of our surround environment.
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