Analyzing the Flint Water Crisis
A sample of my writing submission. (informative + research)
Analyzing the Flint Water Crisis
Beginning April 2014, the decision to switch the primary water source from Detroit to the Flint river, subjected thousands of Flint Michigan residents to the detrimental effects of unsafe water. On January 16, 2016, a federal state of emergency was announced but, residents of Flint had already lost confidence in the state’s public health officials (Michigan Department of Civil Rights, 2017 pp. 2). One recurring argument was that the water crisis was the continuance of systemic discrimination. Fair access to reliable water is a human and environmental issue yet, for months the citizens complained of foul-smelling, darkly tinted water flowing from their home faucets, causing hair loss, headaches, and itchy eyes (Button, 2016). Yet, despite irrefutable evidence, public health officials willfully ignored them (Michigan Department of Civil Rights, 2017 pp. 84, 90). The water system exhibited corroded pipelines which transferred toxic levels of contaminated water into homes and various establishments, threatened developmental impairment, and had significant impacts on rates of fetal mortality (Grossman & Slusky, 2017 pp. 3). The motivations, decision-making, and outcomes of the Flint water crisis arguably reflects the historical, structural and systemic continuum of both racial and collective bias.
From a political perspective, public health officials attribute the deteriorating economy and a massive financial deficit as main motivators for temporarily changing the water source. Though the river conducted farm fertilizer and urban runoff, the decision to circumvent the use of the Flint River as a water supplier was due insufficient quantity not quality (Michigan Department of Civil Rights, 2017 pp. 115). Further research indicates that despite conscious awareness, it was the African-American population that was predominantly exposed to the lead-contaminated water (Campbell, Greenberg, Mankikar, & Ross, 2016 para 9). To elaborate, the Michigan Civil Rights Commission (MCRC) had not presumed that officials responsible for making decisions related to the Flint water crisis were purposefully racists or intended to treat individuals of Flint differently. Instead, the MCRC hypothesized that much of the unprecedented difficulties residents tolerated were driven by systemic racism and implicit bias (Michigan Department of Civil Rights, 2017 pp. 2). While greed and personal profit have also been presumptuously implicated as motivators, various policies, rulings and social customs perpetuated the segregation of race, affluence and equal opportunity (Michigan Department of Civil Rights, 2017 pp. 2).
In comparison, the citizens of Flint were motivated by the adverse health effects on their communal livelihood. Local residents including LeeAnne Walters began challenging local authorities by insisting the city test her water after her children contracted rashes. The test results publicized a list of chemicals discovered in the water, while elevated levels of lead not only exceeded the federal action limit but, had tripled that of what is considered hazardous waste (Lecture Power point slide). On September 29, 2015, the Detroit Free Press published an analysis of blood tests, as the county issued a health advisory. While the Governor’s office directed the Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to consider emergency responses (Michigan Department of Civil Rights, 2017 pp. 2).
Lack of provision and failure to address the corrosive infrastructure was a decision imposed by public health officials. This began drawing attention to concerns in accountability and unfair water distribution. Despite the public’s concern, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) continued to insist the water was reliable (Grossman & Slusky, 2017 pp. 2). The state’s decision to issue a boil advisory to alleviate the presence of disease-causing pathogens triggered uncertainty and allegations of government corruption. On October 21, 2015, the Governor created the Flint Water Task Force whom ultimately implicated groups including the MDEQ, Michigan’s Governor’s office, State appointed Emergency managers, and the Environmental Protection Agency as chief perpetrators (Michigan Department of Civil Rights, 2017 pp. 2; Campbell, Greenberg, Mankikar, & Ross, 2016 para. 21). Consequently, lack of recognition influenced the decision for Flint residents to pursue support outside of the community from researchers at Virginia Tech. It was on August 2015 when a Virginia Tech professor reported high levels of lead pollution in the water and, on October 16, 2015, Flint reverted back to the Detroit water system (Michigan Department of Civil Rights, 2017 pp. 2). Despite the adjustment, in January 2016, Governor Rick Snyder’s decision to announce a state emergency, was quickly over ruled by President Barak Obama, whom announced a federal emergency.
The Flint community has been immeasurably affected by the decisions of government officials to change the water source. Along with an accumulation of toxic levels of lead, the corroded pipeline was also the transport mechanism for the outbreak of Legionnaires disease (Michigan Department of Civil Rights, 2017 pp. 1). Any child exposed to the corrosive water, risked lead-poisoning which decreases intelligence, development and other neurological functions (Campbell, Greenberg, Mankikar, & Ross, 2016 para 5 ). Other health consequences such as hypertension or kidney damage from this incident may take years to manifest (Campbell, Greenberg, Mankikar, & Ross, 2016 para 2). The decision for executive persons of power to ignore communal concerns failed to perform their public health duties. More importantly, the lack of administrative responsiveness and lack of accountability threatened the viability of integrity in the local, state and federal public health officials. In order to ensure environmental justice was sought, this called for a more comprehensive investigation in to reasons why this crisis occurred. The MCRC recommended correcting legislative and social practices by developing an understanding of structural racialization, implicit bias, and the effects on decision-making through all branches of government. This was considered equally as important as correcting interpersonal and intrapersonal reactions (Arbulu & Levy, 2018 pp. 1-7).
The public health crisis in Flint demonstrated environmental injustice and the magnitude of improper resource allocation. While equitable access to safe drinking water remains a human and environmental issue, the Flint incident arguably reflects the historical, structural and systemic continuum of racially implicit bias (Michigan Department of Civil Rights, 2017 pp. 90). Government actions not only obstructed the living conditions of Flint residents, but they also threatened the viability of the government’s reliability. While the MCRC argued that if Michigan had an environmental justice plan in place, the water crisis may have been prevented (Michigan Department of Civil Rights, 2017 pp. 4). As a result of these motivations and decisions endangered an entire community to the repercussions of hazardous water and unfair water distribution.
Works Cited
Arbulu, A. V., & Levy, D. (2018, March). “The Flint Water Crisis: Systemic Racism Through the Lens of Flint One Year Later”; Michigan.gov. Retrieved May 25, 2019, from https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdcr/Flint_Water_Update_620973_7.pdf
Button, G. (2016, Jan 27). The Flint Water Disaster: a Perfect storm of Downplaying, Denial and Deceit. (J. St. Clair, Ed.) Petrolia, CA: CounterPunch.
Campbell, C., Greenberg, R., Mankikar, D., & Ross, R. D. (2016, Oct. 13). A Case Study of Environmental Injustice: The Flint Failure. (P. B. Tchounwou, Ed.)
Grossman, D. S., & Slusky, D. J. (2017, Aug 7). The Effect of an Increase in Lead in the Water System on Fertility and Birth Outcomes: The Case of Flint Michigan.
Michigan Department of Civil Rights. (2017, February 17). “The Flint Water Crisis: Systemic Racism Through the Lens of Flint”; michigan.gov. (C. Pero, Ed.) Retrieved May 26, 2019, from https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdcr/VFlintCrisisRep-F-Edited3-13-17_554317_7.pdf
Ward, P. S., & Shively, G. E. (2017, Apr 17). Disaster risk, social vulnerability, and economic development. 41(2), 324-351.
