Pro-environment demonstrators on the streets of Washington, DC during the Jan. 20, 2017 Trump inauguration. Mobilus In Mobili / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0
By Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky
One year after the Flint Water Crisis I was invited to participate in a water rights session at a conference hosted by the US Human Rights Network in Austin, Texas in 2015. The reason I was at the conference was to promote efforts by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to encourage scientists to shine a light on how science intersects with human rights, in the U.S. as well as in the context of international development. My plan was to sit at an information booth and share my stories about water quality projects I spearheaded in communities in Bangladesh, Colombia, and the Philippines. I did not expect to be thrown into conversations that made me reexamine how scientists use their knowledge as a public good.
<p>The water rights session was titled <em>Water Justice: Effective Advocacy for Our Right to Water</em> and began with forum speakers discussing environmental justice issues related to water availability, cost, and quality in various regions of the U.S. I heard first-hand accounts of the Flint water supply contamination, the prohibitive cost of water in lower-income communities in Boston, and the scarcity of clean drinking water on Arizona's Native American Reservations.</p>
<p>The forum led to an audience roundtable discussion that began with self-introductions by the attendees. I introduced myself as an environmental scientist based in Arizona who was interested in their concerns. Immediately after the introduction I was surprised to be told by several individuals that they distrusted scientists and that we were a contributor to their problems. I shared about my life growing up poor in New York City housing projects dealing with problems similar to theirs, and I was able to gain some credibility by relating to their experiences with my own. At that point the approximately 50 attendees, who were affected by water issues discussed in the forum, felt free to explain how their experiences caused them to distrust scientists.</p><p>Several residents from Flint, Michigan shared their anger about the scientists from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality lied to the community about high lead levels in the water. The also felt ignored by scientists from the EPA Region 5 office who should have had more oversight of the water management decision. I am sure this distrust was exacerbated by the 2017 accusations that the Virginia Tech scientists who assisted the community over-exaggerated the harmful effects of water which caused unnecessary panic in the community.</p><p>Representatives from the Shiprock New Mexico Chapter of the Navajo Nation discussed how they felt betrayed by EPA Region 6 scientists who failed to recognize contaminated water supplied to the community for use in agriculture and drinking. The Shiprock residents were already critical of the EPA's handling of a 3-million-gallon release of toxic wastewater into a tributary upstream of the Navajo Native land. A group representing a lower-income African American community of Boston voiced that government scientists and social scientists involved in water infrastructure design are unconcerned about the affordability of drinking water and sewage in lower-income areas.</p><p>I used what I learned from the stories about the distrust of scientists as a platform to educate colleagues about how scientists can learn to integrate community-based and interdisciplinary considerations into their work on environmental justice and policy issues and created <a href="https://ucs-documents.s3.amazonaws.com/science-network/ucs-sntk-equitable-partnerships-2-11.pdf" target="_blank">this one-pager</a> as a guide for scientists who wish to do effective environmental justice work. There are three key components:</p><ul><li>Understanding public views and sentiments about science and scientists</li><li>Building trust in communities affected by environmental justice</li><li>Reducing tensions when working on environmental justice issues</li></ul>
Understanding Public Views and Sentiments About Science and Scientists
<p>According to a <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2015/01/29/public-and-scientists-views-on-science-and-society/" target="_blank">2015 study by the Pew Research Center</a>, a random sample of 2,002 adult Americans perceive science as having positive impacts on peoples' lives. Americans also believe that government funding of science is worth the payoff provided by scientific knowledge and technological applications. But unfortunately, the benefits of science are not always equally distributed to all communities.</p><p>Dr. Robert Bullard, one of the most prominent environmental justice scholars, points out in his book<em> <a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/book/10.2105/9780875530079" target="_blank">Environmental Health and Racial Equity in the United States: Building Environmentally Just, Sustainable, and Livable</a> </em>that many scientific developments for reducing pollution and improving health care do not always make their way into areas affected by discriminatory practices or poverty. Populations that are disproportionately affected by environmental injustices are predominantly communities of color, tribal communities, and low-income communities.</p><p>Historically, the benefits of science and technology have not been shared equally as is discussed in the 2016 Nature article <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/is-science-only-for-the-rich-1.20650" target="_blank"><em>Is science only for the rich?</em></a> A 2018 The Atlantic article <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/the-trump-administration-finds-that-environmental-racism-is-real/554315/" target="_blank"><em>Trump's EPA Concludes Environmental Racism Is Real</em></a> discusses that at times science has been used against environmental justice communities. In addition, the "Belmont Report", produced by the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/sites/default/files/the-belmont-report-508c_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">documents a long history</a> of unequal benefits of medical research.</p><p>In part due to this history, scientists are not always or immediately trusted or welcome in environmental justice communities. Scientists also have a reputation for 'parachuting' into communities to conduct research and make recommendations for change without ever fully consulting the knowledge and lived experience of the people who live there. Community members want equal access to data, policymakers, and science or technology that can remediate environmental injustice.</p><p>Scientists can <a href="http://ambiental.uaslp.mx/eventos/HESD07/Extensos/46-HESD07-FullText-Shmaefsky-Letargo_VF.pdf" target="_blank">play a role in conducting research</a> that is community-driven and in using their social capital and access to scientific institutions and policymakers to make community demands and needs heard directly and with the weight of evidence behind it. For example, from 2007 to 2010, I collaborated with a geology colleague to engage indigent people in the Philippines to develop a sustainable integrated waste and water management system based on stakeholder customs and resources. The communities had no access to affordable resources and were suffering the consequences of no management program. Previous efforts by other entities to improve water management in the community proved ineffective due to a disconnect between the plans of the entities and the needs of the stakeholders.</p><p>There is also an inclusivity problem in science — it is not yet representative of the diverse world in which we live. The latest statistics on the ethnicity of scientists show that populations subject to environmental injustice make up less than 15 percent of the U.S. Approximately 70 percent of scientists in the U.S. are white and 72 percent of white scientists are male, and most do not come from low-income backgrounds. Science needs the experiences and expertise of people from impacted communities to ask the questions and work on solutions that better serve the needs of those communities. And people need to see themselves, see people like them, in the scientific community to gain trust that the institution of science represents them too. This disparity creates an incongruity between people affected by environmental injustice and the scientific community.</p><p>Scientists need to be aware of how they are perceived when working with community, and slowly and deliberately build relationships and trust with environmental justice and fenceline communities.</p>
<p><em>Dr. Brian Shmaefsky is currently a professor of environmental sciences at Lone Star College – Kingwood, near Houston, Texas. His research interests are environmental physiology and biomonitoring. However, his current professional activities include developing sustainable water quality strategies for less economically developed nations and consulting on environment justice policy. </em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/science-blogger/connecting-science-justice" rel="noopener noreferrer">Union of Concerned Scientists</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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People participate in a national mile-long march to highlight the push for clean water in Flint Feb. 19, 2016 in Flint, Michigan. Bill Pugliano / Stringer / Getty Images
The Supreme Court made a decision Tuesday that means Flint residents can sue state and local officials over the water crisis that leached lead into their water and resulted in at least 12 deaths.
<p>City officials and state regulators argued that they had "qualified immunity" from being sued, but lower courts rejected this argument. By refusing to hear two cases related to the matter, the Supreme Court has upheld those rulings, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/01/21/798331185/supreme-court-allows-flint-water-lawsuits-to-move-forward-officials-not-immune?utm_term=nprnews&utm_campaign=npr&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR3rbYErj3gDnSE4UNtsMESyYg3i2bgjACmY3OSeq5jKpHmy-OhViFgfOWc&t=1579682782022" target="_blank">NPR explained</a>.</p><p>"It's time for the people of Flint to start feeling like they are going to get their day in court," lawyer Michael Pitt told <a href="https://www.michiganradio.org/post/major-court-victory-flint-residents-suing-over-water-crisis" target="_blank">Michigan Radio</a>. "This just moves the entire process closer to that day."</p><p>Pitt is a co-lead counsel on a class action lawsuit filed by thousands of Flint residents seeking damages in the wake of the water crisis. The case which triggered the Supreme Court decision was filed by two Flint residents including mother Shari Guertin, who said she and her child were exposed to lead, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-flint/us-supreme-court-lets-flint-michigan-residents-sue-over-water-contamination-idUSKBN1ZK1S5" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>.</p><p>The crisis began In 2014 when an emergency manager appointed by then-Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/flint-water-crisis-5-years-2635520065.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1" target="_self">switched</a> the city's water supply to the Flint River. The improperly treated water leached lead and bacteria from the pipes, contaminating water and causing a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires' Disease. More than 25,000 Flint residents were harmed by exposure to lead or other contaminants, according to court records reported by Reuters. More than 5,000 of those individuals were children under the age of 12. No level of lead exposure, which can harm children's cognitive development, is considered safe.</p>
<p>Government officials at first said the contaminated water was safe, but admitted 18 months later that it was not, according to NPR. The city's water supply was finally switched to Lake Huron. The supply did not meet federal safety standards until late in 2016.</p><p>"They have been denied justice," Pitt told Michigan Radio of his clients.</p><p>The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had previously ruled that the officials were not immune from lawsuits.</p><p>"Knowing the Flint River water was unsafe for public use, distributing it without taking steps to counter its problems, and assuring the public in the meantime that it was safe is conduct that would alert a reasonable person to the likelihood of personal liability," the lower court ruled, as <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/21/politics/supreme-court-flint-michigan-lawsuit-water-crisis/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. "Any reasonable official should have known that doing so constitutes conscience-shocking conduct prohibited by the substantive due process clause."</p><p>The officials had argued they should be immune because they could not have known they would be sued for doing the best they could with the information they had, according to Reuters.</p><p>"Allowing the <a href="https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2019/01/flint-water-crisis-lawsuit-allowed-to-move-forward-after-appeal.html" target="_blank">Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling</a> to stand (means the Supreme Court decided the lower court's) reasoning was strong, appropriate and well-researched," Guertin's lawyer Paul Geske told <a href="https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2020/01/attorney-says-supreme-court-decision-on-flint-water-brings-federal-trial-closer-to-reality.html" target="_blank">Michigan Live</a>.</p>
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Water Inequality Used to Be a Developing World Problem Only. Not Any More.
14 October 2019
Insights + Opinion
Protestors marched outside the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Monday, August 26, during the MTV Video and Music Awards to bring attention to the water crisis currently gripping the city. Karla Ann Cote / NurPhoto / Getty Images
By Will Sarni
It is far too easy to view scarcity and poor quality of water as issues solely affecting emerging economies. While the images of women and children fetching water in Africa and a lack of access to water in India are deeply disturbing, this is not the complete picture.
<p>The city of Flint, Michigan, where dangerous levels of <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/04/us/flint-water-crisis-fast-facts/index.html" target="_blank">pollutants contaminated</a> the municipal water supply, is a case in point — as is, more recently, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/23/nyregion/newark-water-crisis.html" target="_blank">the city of Newark, New Jersey</a>.</p>
<p><em>Will Sarni is the founder and CEO of Water Foundry.</em><br/></p><p><em><em>Note: This post also appears on the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/10/water-inequality-developing-world-usa-west/" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a>.</em></em></p><p><em><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.circleofblue.org/2019/world/water-inequality-used-to-be-a-developing-world-problem-only-not-any-more/" target="_blank">Circle of Blue</a>.</em></em></p>
The Past Is No Longer a Guide to the Future
<p>We get ever closer to "day zeros" — the point at when municipal water supplies are switched off — and tragedies such as Flint. These are not isolated stories. Instead they are becoming routine, and the public sector and civil society are scrambling to address them. We are seeing "day zeros" in South Africa, India, Australia and elsewhere, and we are now detecting lead contamination in drinking water in cities across the U.S.<br></p><p>"Day zero" is the result of water planning by looking in the rear-view mirror. The past is no longer a guide to the future; water demand has outstripped supplies because we are tied to business-as-usual planning practices and water prices, and this goes hand-in-hand with the inability of the public sector to factor the impacts of climate change into long-term water planning. Lead in drinking water is the result of lead pipe service lines that have not been replaced and in many cases only recently identified by utilities, governments and customers. An estimated 22 million people in the U.S. are potentially using <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/115/9/2078" target="_blank">lead water service lines</a>. This aging infrastructure won't repair or replace itself.</p><p>One of the most troubling aspects of the global water crisis is that those least able to afford access to water are also the ones who pay a disproportionately high percentage of their income for it. A report by <a href="https://www.wateraid.org/us/" target="_blank">WaterAid</a> revealed that a standard water bill in developed countries is as little as 0.1 percent of the income of someone earning the minimum wage, while in a country like Madagascar a person reliant on a tanker truck for their water supply would spend as much as 45 percent of their daily income on water to get just the recommended daily minimum supply. In Mozambique, families relying on black-market vendors will spend up to 100 times as much on water as those reached by government-subsidized water supplies.</p><p>Finally, we need to understand that the discussion of a projected gap between supply and demand is misleading. There is no gap, only poor choices around allocation. The wealthy will have access to water, and the poor will pay more for water of questionable quality. From Flint residents using bottled water and paying high water utility rates, to the poor in South Africa waiting in line for their allocation of water — inequity is everywhere.</p>Water Inequity Requires Global Action — Now.
<p>These troubling scenarios beg the obvious question: What to do? We do know that ongoing reports on the 'water crisis' are not going to catalyze action to address water scarcity, poor quality, access and affordability. Ensuring the human right to water feels distant at times.</p><p>We need to mobilize an ecosystem of stakeholders to be fully engaged in developing and scaling solutions. The public sector, private sector, NGOs, entrepreneurs, investors, academics and civil society must all be engaged in solving water scarcity and quality problems. Each stakeholder brings unique skills, scale and speed of impact (for example, entrepreneurs are fast but lack scale, while conversely the public sector is slow but has scale).</p><p>We also urgently need to change how we talk about water. We consistently talk about droughts happening across the globe — but what we are really dealing with is an overallocation of water due to business-as-usual practices and the impacts of climate change.</p><p>We need to democratize access to water data and actionable information. Imagine providing anyone with a smartphone the ability to know, on a real-time basis, the quality of their drinking water and actions to secure safe water. Putting this information in the hands of civil society instead or solely relying on centralized regulatory agencies and utilities will change public policies.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Michigan Prosecutors Drop Criminal Charges Against Officials Involved in Flint Water Crisis
14 June 2019
Politics
Demonstrators outside a Republican presidential debate in Detroit in 2016. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Michigan prosecutors dropped all criminal charges against government officials involved in the Flint water crisis Thursday, citing concerns about the investigation they had inherited from the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) appointed by former Attorney General Bill Schuette, CNN reported.
<p>"We cannot provide the citizens of Flint the investigation they rightly deserve by continuing to build on a flawed foundation," Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy said in a <a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/MIAG/bulletins/24b15f2?reqfrom=share" target="_blank">statement</a>. "Dismissing these cases allows us to move forward according to the non-negotiable requirements of a thorough, methodical and ethical investigation."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy issued the following statement after new filing in Flint Water prosecution: <a href="https://t.co/R52ijUsaz6">https://t.co/R52ijUsaz6</a></p>— Michigan Attorney General (@MIAttyGen) <a href="https://twitter.com/MIAttyGen/status/1139228329805041670?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>The news <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/3-michigan-officials-charged-in-flint-water-poisoning-1891122881.html" target="_self">comes a little more than three years</a> after the first criminal charges were filed and a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/flint-water-crisis-5-years-2635520065.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1" target="_self">little more than five years</a> since an emergency manager switched Flint's water supply from the Detroit water system to the Flint River as a cost-saving measure. The highly corrosive water leached <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/lead" target="_self">lead</a> from the pipes, contaminating the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drinking-water" target="_self">drinking water</a> with unsafe levels of the heavy metal. The new water was also linked to an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease that killed at least 12, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/13/us/flint-water-crisis-charges-dropped.html?module=inline&te=1&nl=morning-briefing&emc=edit_MBE_p_20190614&section=whatElse?campaign_id=51&instance_id=10196&segment_id=14286&user_id=d8eb7cee9d3c5ab39515239b6ec54d19&regi_id=88631294section=whatElse" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>.<br></p><p>For Flint residents, the news of the dropped charges was the latest in a long line of betrayals from government officials. Flint activist Melissa Mays, who founded the advocacy group <a href="http://www.wateryoufightingfor.com/" target="_blank">Water You Fighting For</a>, wrote in a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/indigrace/posts/10157476478939744?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARCHANTqIYkqDVe_MF_NH_gQT2P7dnANA3XLvsMRHfYGUtRRs6qlI86WikqG9AVsx33nUd9BbUlPyU2CbaC0Ok4SEF7s3_AhLHgN0XbP_tSmQ-YgAaxMZtIKAnJ4sTOwDGfzz7RUihsrU4jxPFqRBmowO_d3gd1xkgQ1LL9bnQ8YJ2-NtcFryaCfwxgkwTyG2BINyrACENIgJw&__tn__=-R" target="_blank">Facebook post</a> that she first heard the news of the dropped charges from a New York Times reporter.</p><p>"This is not justice," Mays told The New York Times. "It just seems like a political ploy. The only thing it tells me is our lives don't matter."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Day #1875 in the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlintWaterCrisis?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlintWaterCrisis</a>: AG <a href="https://twitter.com/dananessel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@dananessel</a> drops all criminal charges just before manslaughter trial dates are set and doesn't inform Flint residents. The shock. The horror. Being re-traumatized is NOT what Flint needs... <a href="https://t.co/Xw82KwD5nF">https://t.co/Xw82KwD5nF</a></p>— Melissa Mays (@FlintGate) <a href="https://twitter.com/FlintGate/status/1139314280229220352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>But the prosecutors, who took over the case after the Michigan attorney general's office passed from Republican to Democratic control earlier this year, argued in their statement that there had been major problems with the original investigation:<br></p><blockquote>Legitimate criminal prosecutions require complete investigations. Upon assuming responsibility of this case, our team of career prosecutors and investigators had immediate and grave concerns about the investigative approach and legal theories embraced by the OSC, particularly regarding the pursuit of evidence. After a complete evaluation, our concerns were validated. Contrary to accepted standards of criminal investigation and prosecution, all the available evidence was not pursued. Instead, the OSC entered into agreements that gave private law firms — representing Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of Treasury, and the Executive Office of former Governor Rick Snyder — a role in deciding what information would be turned over to law enforcement.</blockquote><p>Hammoud and Worthy said they had already uncovered new information and pinpointed additional people who might be charged. They also said dropping the charges did not prevent them from filing new charges against the original defendants. The pair said they would not answer media inquiries until they spoke directly to Flint residents at a community meeting scheduled for June 28.</p><p>Democratic Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel supported the prosecutors' decision.</p><p>"I want to remind the people of Flint that justice delayed is not always justice denied and a fearless and dedicated team of career prosecutors and investigators are hard at work to ensure those who harmed you are held accountable," she said in a statement.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel issued the following statement after learning of the Flint prosecution team's dismissal of all Flint criminal cases without prejudice: <a href="https://t.co/hLS75Q9smw">pic.twitter.com/hLS75Q9smw</a></p>— Michigan Attorney General (@MIAttyGen) <a href="https://twitter.com/MIAttyGen/status/1139238205646090241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>Flint Mayor Karen Weaver also expressed tentative support for the decision.</p><p>"It is frustrating, but I'd rather be frustrated at this end and know that they're going to do a deep dive into what happened," Weaver told The New York Times. "I think this way, they may have the evidence they need to be able to hold them accountable and throw away the key."</p><p>Schuette, meanwhile, took to Twitter to defend his team's investigation. He <a href="https://twitter.com/SchuetteOnDuty/status/1139262177964167168" target="_blank">noted</a> that the OSC had brought 59 charges against 15 people and won five convictions.</p><p>"We had an experienced, aggressive and hard-driving team. Everything we did was for the people of Flint," he wrote.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We had an experienced, aggressive and hard-driving team. Everything we did was for the people of Flint.</p>— Bill Schuette (@SchuetteOnDuty) <a href="https://twitter.com/SchuetteOnDuty/status/1139262457095081984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>The news means that Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/nick-lyon" target="_self">Nick Lyon</a> and former Chief Medical Executive <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/flint-water-lyon-manslaughter-2441602962.html" target="_self">Eden Wells</a> will no longer face trial for charges including involuntary manslaughter after they allegedly failed to warn residents of the Legionnaires' outbreak in a timely manner, <a href="https://eu.detroitnews.com/story/news/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2019/06/13/involuntary-manslaughter-charges-dropped-flint-water-scandal/1445870001/" target="_blank">The Detroit News reported</a>. Lyon was the highest-ranking official to be charged in the initial investigation. Charges against six other officials were also dropped Thursday. Seven of the original 15 charged had previously agreed to plea deals.</p><p>Chip Chamberlain, one of Lyon's attorneys, told The Detroit News that his client "feels fantastic and grateful and vindicated."</p><p>However, Lyon and the others could face new charges.</p><p>"If charges are dismissed, usually prosecutors have six months or so to refile charges and it won't affect the statute of limitations," Wayne State University law professor and former federal prosecutor Peter Henning told The Detroit News.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Flint: 5 Years Later, and Our Water Is More Threatened Than Ever <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/dontforgetflint?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#dontforgetflint</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/IENearth?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ienearth</a> <br> <a href="https://twitter.com/lakotalaw?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lakotalaw</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/LittleMissFlint?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LittleMissFlint</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/WenonahHauter?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WenonahHauter</a> <a href="https://t.co/WZadzf5Dpj">https://t.co/WZadzf5Dpj</a></p>— EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) <a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/status/1121457383929208833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 25, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Trending
Bill Pugliano / Getty Images
By Wenonah Hauter
Five years ago this week, an emergency manager appointed by then-Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder made the devastating decision to save money by switching Flint's water supply over from Detroit's water system to the Flint River. Seen as a temporary fix, the new water supply was not properly treated. High levels of lead leached from the old pipes, poisoning a generation of Flint's children, and bacteria responsible for an outbreak of Legionnaires' Disease killed more than a dozen residents.
<p>Five years ago, we hoped this would be a rallying cry for federal investment in our water systems. But today, things aren't better: they're worse. Almost daily, there are new headlines about how vulnerable our water infrastructure has become. Martin County, Kentucky, has suffered a catastrophic failure of its water system that has led to higher water rates for discolored, toxic water; like residents in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flint">Flint</a>, they don't trust what comes out of the tap. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), have contaminated water in states across the country where military and industrial facilities have released this dangerous chemical associated with cancer risks. Testing has shown a widespread problem with lead in our schools. And on top of all of this, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/">climate change</a> is exacerbating many of our water problems, stressing water supplies, threatening critical infrastructure and overburdening our aging stormwater collection systems.</p>
<p>What's more, a <a href="https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/insight/americas-secret-water-crisis" target="_blank">recent survey</a> by Food & Water Watch of the two largest water systems in each state revealed a shocking estimated 15 million people had their water shut off in 2016 for nonpayment. That's 1 in 20 households. Statistically, someone in your neighborhood is having a hard time paying their water bills. Water affordability is just one more aspect of our deepening water crisis.</p><p>These all may seem like big, daunting problems, and they are. But the only way to deal with the systemic problems with our drinking water is with a systemic solution. In this case, we must commit to a nationwide re-investment in our public drinking water infrastructure.</p><p>Since peaking in the 1970s, federal funding to maintain our aging water systems has plummeted by 82% on a per capita basis. In 1977, the federal government spent $76.27 per person (in 2014 dollars) on water infrastructure, but by 2014 that support had fallen to $13.68 per person. Meanwhile, many water systems are nearly 100 years old.</p><p>It's no wonder we have a deepening water crisis. Luckily, there are some in Congress that have decided to do something about it. For the first time, the <a href="https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/insight/water-jobs-justice-case-water-affordability-transparency-equity-and-reliability-water-act" target="_blank">Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity and Reliability (WATER Act)</a> was introduced this year in both the House and Senate by Reps. Barbara Lawrence and Ro Khanna and Sen. Bernie Sanders. This legislation would provide the necessary $35 billion a year in funding to upgrade our drinking water and wastewater systems, creating nearly a million jobs in the process.</p><p>The legislation also provides funding to help rural and small municipalities and Native American communities improve their water and wastewater systems, and funding for treatment systems or alternative water supplies to communities affected by PFAS. It would expand a grant program to replace lead pipes in public schools, and would provide homeowners grants to replace lead service lines to their properties.</p><p>It would also prioritize water affordability by requiring that no less than half of the critical U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funding going to support state-run clean water and drinking water programs be given as grants and subsidies to disadvantaged communities. It would also require the EPA to produce guidance about promoting universal access to safe water and to coordinate a study and civil rights violations by water providers — a move that would prevent water shutoffs.</p><p>We can't continue to take our water for granted. Clean, affordable water will not come to our homes without a significant investment that would upgrade our public water infrastructure. How many more Flints will it take before Congress passes legislation that makes clean water for everyone a reality?</p><p><em><a href="https://secure.foodandwaterwatch.org/act/tell-your-members-congress-co-sponsor-water-act" target="_blank">Call your representative today and tell them to pass the WATER Act</a>.</em></p>
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- Michael Moore: 10 Things They Won't Tell You About the Flint Water ... ›
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Two More Michigan Officials Plead ‘No Contest’ as Flint Water Crisis Investigation Continues
27 December 2018
Health + Wellness
The Flint River in downtown Flint, Michigan. Bill Pugliano / Getty Images
Two Michigan environmental regulators implicated in the Flint water crisis plead "no contest" in a bid to avoid felony charges. As part of their deal, they will also testify against others involved with the scandal, which contaminated the town of Flint, Michigan's drinking water with lead and resulted in 12 deaths from Legionnaires' Disease, The Huffington Post reported Thursday.
<p>The two officials in question, Michael Prysby and Stephen Busch, both worked for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). They are among 15 officials who have been charged by Michigan's Attorney General's Office in relation to the scandal and the fifth and sixth of that group to plead no contest to misdemeanors, a move similar to a guilty plea when it comes to sentencing, <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2018/12/26/flint-water-crisis-2018/2414377002/" target="_blank">The Detroit Free Press explained</a>. </p><p>Prosecutor Todd Flood said he accepted the pleas because of "substantial assistance being given to move the ball down the field in the Flint water investigation," according to The Detroit Free Press.</p><p>The Flint water crisis began in 2014 when officials swapped the city's water supply from Lake Huron and the Detroit River to the highly corrosive Flint River. The water leached lead from pipes into residents' drinking water, leading to dangerously high levels for 18 months. The water also had low levels of chlorine, which caused the Legionnaires' outbreak, The Huffington Post explained.</p><p>The details of the two officials' pleas are as follows, according to The Detroit Free Press.</p><h2>Michael Prysby</h2><p><strong>Plea</strong>: Prysby plead no contest to a charge under the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act related to issuing permits for the Flint Water Treatment Plant and starting it up in April 2014 before it was ready to properly treat water.<br></p><p><strong>Charges Avoided</strong>: Prysby had faced two counts of misconduct in office, one count of conspiracy to tamper with evidence and one count of tampering with evidence.</p><p><strong>Testimony</strong>: Prysby has agreed to testify that the decision to open the Flint Water Treatment Plant before it was ready was made by state-appointed emergency managers. He has also agreed to testify about a faulty administrative consent order that allowed Flint to issue bonds for a new pipeline to Lake Huron.</p><h2>Stephen Busch</h2><p><strong>Plea</strong>: Busch plead no contest to a misdemeanor charge for causing a disturbance in a public building. His lawyer, Mark Kriger, explained it was related to a meeting in Flint in January 2015 during which residents raised concerns about foul-smelling, discolored water.</p><p>"Because of Mr. Busch's failure to address those concerns adequately, the meeting became extremely boisterous, and in fact it had to be ended prematurely," Kriger told the judge.</p><p><strong>Charges Avoided</strong>: Busch faced many of the same charges as Prysby, with the addition of an involuntary manslaughter charge, The Huffington Post reported.</p><p><strong>Testimony</strong>: Busch is prepared to testify that he spoke to Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon about legionella bacteria before March 2015, The Detroit Free Press reported. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/flint-water-crisis-nick-lyon-2597845843.html" target="_self">Lyon is the highest-ranking official</a> who will go to trial because of the Flint water crisis. He will stand trial for involuntary manslaughter related to the Legionnaires' outbreak. He did not announce the outbreak until January of 2016, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/08/20/judge-orders-nick-lyon-stand-trial-flint-deaths/1049127002/" target="_blank">The Associated Press reported</a>.</p><p>Busch and Prysby will be sentenced Jan. 23, 2019. </p>
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Residents stand in a long queue to fill water containers on May 27 in Shimla, India. Deepak Sansta / Hindustan Times / Getty Images
International Peace Day is Sept. 21. Mekela Panditharatne, attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, submitted the following op-ed to EcoWatch in commemoration.
In drought-ravaged East Africa, the cracks in the plains echo the fault lines splitting tribes.
Across the globe, the devastation of deadly brawls is being exacerbated by tensions over access to water. Water crises, often worsened by governance failures, can portend warning signs for instability and conflict. This year, the World Resources Institute cautioned that water stress is growing globally, "with 33 countries projected to face extremely high stress in 2040." The effects of such water stress span the gamut from civil unrest to open warfare.
<p>Water alone does not explain why a polity erupts into conflict; other factors often play a role. But water scarcity can provide a tangible marker of the government's failure to deliver basic services, and spur movements of people that overburden cities and exacerbate tensions.<u></u><u></u></p><p>In India, for example, <a href="https://qz.com/india/931878/india-is-facing-its-worst-water-crisis-in-generations/" target="_blank">irrigation is causing</a> social unrest and water distribution has become a flashpoint between farmers and the government. In Somalia, communities <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/climate/water-iran.html" target="_blank">affected by drought</a> have been exploited by Al-Shabab, a militant group. The recent water restrictions in Cape Town, South Africa, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/09/cape-south-south-africa-water-crisis/569317/" target="_blank">inflamed</a> old racial fault lines in the city. In Niger, Chad and Nigeria water scarcity has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/climate/water-iran.html" target="_blank">fed</a> a dangerous insurgency.<u></u><u></u></p><p>As the Syrian conflict churns towards what is likely to be a brutal climax in Idlib, it's worth remembering that the country's bitter civil war <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/science/earth/study-links-syria-conflict-to-drought-caused-by-climate-change.html" target="_blank">may be linked</a> to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate change</a>-induced <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought">drought</a>. A study published in the <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/112/11/3241" target="_blank">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2015</a> states that an extreme drought that occurred in Syria between 2007 and 2010 was likely contributed to by climate change, and that the drought was a key factor in the violent uprising which erupted there in 2011. The researchers stated that in Syria the drought had a "catalytic effect," prompting crop failures and the mass migration of more than one million people to urban areas, intensifying existing social stressors.<u></u><u></u></p><p>These issues are beginning to touch the U.S. in myriad ways. The lead crisis in Flint, Michigan demonstrated how democracy is implicated by water quality. In Puerto Rico, a <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/resources/threats-tap-drinking-water-violations-puerto-rico" target="_blank">lack of access to safe water</a> is intimately tied to a legacy of poverty and a lack of full representation in Congress. In the parched American west, drought <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/17/us/wests-drought-and-growth-intensify-conflict-over-water-rights.html" target="_blank">has sparked</a> legal and political contests over ownership of water.<u></u><u></u></p><p>Today, vulnerable communities around the world are agitating for a human right to water that has real, practical meaning. Arid, drought-ridden cities will survive only through their ability to create economic, technical and political means to dispense water equitably and safely. Developing such innovations will be one of the most important projects of the 21<sup>st</sup> century.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="f9b62" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="QGCL9B1576661805"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1009252006039564294" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">India Suffers 'Worst Water Crisis in Its History' https://t.co/r6zm9xlID4 @foodandwater @waterforpeople</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/1009252006039564294">1529459403.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Judge Orders Michigan Health Director to Face Trial Over Flint Water Crisis Deaths
21 August 2018
Popular
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon, seen here speaking to the press about the Flint water crisis in 2016, will be the highest ranking official to stand trial over the public health disaster. Brett Carlsen / Getty Images
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon will be the highest ranking official to go to trial so far as a result of an investigation into the Flint water crisis, The Associated Press reported Monday.
Judge David Goggins ruled Monday there was probable cause for Lyon to stand trial for involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of Robert Skidmore and John Snyder that prosecutors say were due to a Legionnaires' disease outbreak that Lyon was aware of a year before he alerted Michigan's governor, Michigan Live reported. Lyons is also charged with misconduct in office.
<p>"We're looking at today as the first step and the next step for justice for the moms and the dads and the kids of Flint, specifically for the families of Mr. Snyder and Mr. Skidmore," spokesperson for Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, Andrea Bitely, told <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2018/08/20/judge-nick-lyon-flint-goes-trial/1042322002/" target="_blank">The Detroit News</a>.</p><p>Schuette's office is conducting an ongoing investigation into what happened when the Flint River was used for <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drinking-water" target="_self">drinking water</a> in Flint for 18 months in 2014 and 2015. The corrosive water was not treated and it leached <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/lead" target="_self">lead</a> from pipes into the water supply, The Associated Press summarized.</p><p> Michigan Live reported that two university studies also link the use of Flint River water to a Legionnaires' disease outbreak that The Associated Press reported killed 12 and sickened 90 in 2014 and 2015.</p><p>Lyon is the highest-ranking of 15 local or state officials charged over either the Legionnaires' outbreak or the lead contamination. Four have agreed to plea deals, and the remaining cases are proceeding slowly, The Associated Press reported.</p><p>Lyon's attorneys said there was "zero proof that there was anything Director Lyon did or did not do" that caused the deaths of Snyder and Skidmore, according to Michigan Live. </p><p>They also argued that prosecuting him would "dangerously chill" public employees, according to The Associated Press.</p><p>Special Prosecutor Todd Flood maintained he could have ordered a change in the city's water supply, Michigan Live reported. </p><p>Prosecutors also accused him of covering up the source of the outbreak by preventing researchers from investigating its cause.</p><p>"He had the chance to save lives," Flood said in a July 25 hearing, according to The Associated Press.</p><p>Goggins seemed to agree Lyon should have acted sooner. </p><p>"I find this behavior over this time period of withholding information corrupt based upon misconduct in office for probable cause standards," Goggins said, according to The Detroit News.</p><p>The case will now proceed to trial in the Genesee Circuit Court.</p><p>"It's a long way from over," Lyon told The Associated Press.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="c60e9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6X79931576663908"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="983333626829066240" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Michigan Gov. Declares Flint Water Safe, Stops Free Bottled Water, But Residents Aren’t So Sure… https://t.co/2PDaAFbjjW</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/983333626829066240">1523279980.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Trending
Susan Hedman, administrator of EPA's Region 5 during the Flint water crisis, testifies before congress. Mark Wilson / Getty Images
A report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) internal watchdog organization published Thursday argued that the EPA needed to step up its monitoring of state drinking water in the aftermath of the Flint, Michigan water crisis, CBS reported.
<p>The report, conducted by the EPA's Office of the Inspector General, found that EPA's Region 5 office, which oversees six Midwestern states including Michigan, made the crisis worse by failing to take advantage of its powers under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2018/07/internal-watchdog-blasts-epas-response-to-flint-water-crisis-in-blistering-report/" target="_blank">Mother Jones reported</a>. </p><p>"While oversight authority is vital, its absence can contribute to a catastrophic situation," EPA Inspector General Arthur A. Elkins said in a news release reported by CBS. "This report urges the EPA to strengthen its oversight of state drinking water programs now so that the agency can act quickly in times of emergency."</p><p>The Flint water crisis started when the city changed its water supply to the Flint River, which had highly corrosive water that leached <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/lead" target="_self">lead</a> from the pipes, contaminating the water that came out of residents' taps. </p><p>Before the water crisis had even begun, the EPA had reason to believe that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) was not doing its job properly. In 2010, an EPA contractor found 10 SWDA requirements that the MDEQ was not following, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/19/politics/epa-ig-flint-report/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. </p><p>But Region 5 Administrator Susan Hedman still relied on the MDEQ to act when the EPA's Midwest water division manager Miguel Del Toral told his supervisors that the Flint River water was not properly treated in 2015, Mother Jones reported. </p><p>Hedman has since resigned.</p><p>The EPA received a total of 87 citizen complaints over a year and a half before it issued an emergency order in January 2016. The report found the agency issued the order seven months after it would have had the "authority and sufficient information," according to CNN. </p><p>"We believe that this was predominantly a management issue at the regional level," Director for Water Program Evaluations at the EPA Office of the Inspector General Katie Butler told CNN. "The combination of pieces of information should have given them a hint that something serious was happening in Flint."</p><p>The report concludes with a series of recommendations including writing a clear document stating the responsibilities of regional EPA and Michigan state officials and developing a set escalation policy for EPA intervention in states in response to crises. </p><p>The report's call for greater EPA oversight comes at a time when the agency is rolling back regulations under the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Trump</a> administration, both by changing policy and by failing to act on public health issues.</p><p>In May, for example, the agency came under fire for working with the White House to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/toxic-chemicals-study-blocked-2569008321.html" target="_self">hold back </a>a government report on toxic <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/water-military-bases-chemicals-2566989573.html" target="_self">per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances</a> (PFAS) polluting drinking water around the country. </p>
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Bill Pugliano / Stringer / Getty Images
By Fiona E. McNeill
The Michigan community of Flint has become a byword for lead poisoning. Elon Musk recently entered the fray. He tweeted a promise to pay to fix the water in any house in Flint that had water contamination above acceptable levels set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
<p>
On Twitter <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-flint-water-plan/" target="_blank">and elsewhere,</a> people argued whether this offer was a big deal or not. Some said his follow-up tweets that most houses in Flint had safe water were wrong. Some said the issue had already been fixed so he was doing nothing.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="8bf49" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="YH2AWP1576663909"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1017149641991680002" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">@DylanSheaMusic Please consider this a commitment that I will fund fixing the water in any house in Flint that has… https://t.co/UT3wmEE0m8</div> — Elon Musk (@Elon Musk)<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/statuses/1017149641991680002">1531342347.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
Others argued that his clarification that he would pay to fit water filters in the small number of houses with high lead levels ("outliers," as he called them) meant he was backtracking.<br>
</p><h2>Important Offer</h2><p>
Even as controversy swirls this week around Musk's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-political-donations-2018-7" target="_blank">financial contribution to a Republican fundraising committee</a> and his comments about a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/16/asia/thai-cave-soccer-musk-rescuer-tweet-intl/index.html" target="_blank">British cave rescuer</a> in Thailand, I argue the Tesla founder has made an important offer regarding Flint. What's more, he's clearly explored the issues surrounding lead in the town's drinking water.
</p><p>
I have studied lead exposure for 30 years. I develop biomedical devices to measure long-term exposure. I recently showed that long-term exposure to lead in Canada has been reduced by half <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6579/aa904f/pdf" target="_blank">since the early 1990s</a>.
</p><p>
I know that removing lead from drinking water is important because lead is such a toxic metal. It lowers <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1257652/" target="_blank">children's IQs</a>, and my colleagues and I showed that lead-exposed children have higher <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajim.10096/full" target="_blank">blood pressure</a> late in life. We also found that women exposed to lead <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1278489/" target="_blank">undergo menopause</a> earlier than non-exposed women.
</p><p>
In Flint, controls of lead levels in drinking water failed, and an <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2016/p0624-water-lead.html" target="_blank">increased number</a> of children were exposed to high lead levels for months. These children will suffer long-term consequences to their health and quality of life.
</p><p>
The children were lead poisoned in Flint because of poor management, complacency <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/documents/snyder/FWATF_FINAL_REPORT_21March2016_517805_7.pdf" target="_blank">and intransigence</a>.
</p><p>
Like many municipalities in North America, a proportion of the water lines in Flint are made of lead. Water running through lead pipes picks up small amounts of the metal, but more lead dissolves when the water is warm and/or acidic.
</p><p>
In <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/documents/snyder/FWATF_FINAL_REPORT_21March2016_517805_7.pdf" target="_blank">April 2014</a>, the city switched the source of water to the Flint River. This water was corrosive, and they failed to add corrosion control. More lead dissolved into the water and children drinking tap water were poisoned. The switch in water supply increased the number of children with blood lead levels above the U.S. <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/ACCLPP/blood_lead_levels.htm" target="_blank">action level</a> of 5 µg/dL by <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2016/p0624-water-lead.html" target="_blank">50 percent</a>.
</p><h2>Government Officials Prolonged Crisis</h2><p>
It took months for the problem to be acknowledged and some state officials "<a href="https://www.michigan.gov/documents/snyder/FWATF_FINAL_REPORT_21March2016_517805_7.pdf" target="_blank">stubbornly worked</a> to discredit and dismiss others' attempts to bring the issues of unsafe water… to light" and "prolonged the Flint water crisis." The source of water was finally switched back, and slowly lead levels in drinking water and the number of children with blood levels above the action level fell.
</p><p>
As of 2018, the state of Michigan's <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/flintwater/0,6092,7-345-76292_76294_76297---,00.html" target="_blank">sampling data</a> of high-risk areas in Flint shows that four per cent of water samples in Flint over a six-month period had lead level levels above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulatory level of <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/tips/water.htm" target="_blank">15 parts per billion</a>.
</p><p>
As Musk noted, most of the tap water in Flint (more than 90 percent) is indeed safe by the EPA standard. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder announced the withdrawal of supplies of bottled water <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/07/us/flint-michigan-water-bottle-program-ends/index.html" target="_blank">in April</a> 2018, arguing that tap-water testing met federal guidelines and declaring the crisis over.
</p><p>
But that doesn't mean that lead has been completely eliminated. There are still properties in the city in 2018 with tested levels that exceed the EPA standard. While ongoing work to replace pipes, some the <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/media/2017/170511-2?utm_source=tw&utm_medium=tweet&utm_campaign=Flint" target="_blank">result of lawsuits</a>, should mean lower levels of lead in the community's tap water in the future, it can cause spikes in lead water levels as particular pipes are cut apart and replaced.
</p><p>
Musk went further in his Tweets than a commitment to water levels below the EPA standard. He committed to fixing the water in any house that exceeded Food and Drug Administration (FDA) levels.
</p><h2>Regulated Differently</h2><p>
In the U.S., bottled water and tap water are regulated at different levels. The FDA (bottled) water level is three times lower than the EPA limit at <a href="https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm203620.htm" target="_blank">five parts per billion</a>. The <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/flintwater/0,6092,7-345-76292_76294_76297---,00.html" target="_blank">state data</a> from high-risk areas in Flint from January to July 2018 shows that 50 to 100 per cent more samples fail at this level.
</p><p>
And so by using the FDA standard, Musk is committing to paying to add filters to the water supply in potentially twice the number of homes in high-risk areas.
</p><p>
Lead can be removed from water by filtration. Some filters work better than others, but even low-cost filters can <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-11/documents/2005_11_17_faq_fs_healthseries_filtration.pdf" target="_blank">work well</a>, so Musk's pledge to add filtration to house water supplies could work as an interim measure. <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2018/04/06/flint-water-bottled-drinking/493954002/" target="_blank">Free water filters</a> and replacement cartridges are available at City Hall, but as Musk noted in his Tweets, some local people distrust the state agency information and the filters. Who can blame them?
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="7528e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="YE03SE1576663909"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1017156124540170240" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">@elonmusk Hey Elon! Sean Hollister here with CNET. Can you confirm this is 100% real... and any comment on reports… https://t.co/uDuhPH6niW</div> — Sean Hollister (@Sean Hollister)<a href="https://twitter.com/StarFire2258/statuses/1017156124540170240">1531343892.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
The official report of the <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/documents/snyder/FWATF_FINAL_REPORT_21March2016_517805_7.pdf" target="_blank">Flint Water Advisory Task Force</a> notes that state officials tried to discredit the issue of unsafe water. Why would people in Flint accept on faith an offer of help from government, when governments have failed them?<br>
</p><p>
Elon Musk may have an important role to play, not as an engineer and an installer of filters, but as an arm's-length third party whose help can be believed. The mayor of Flint, Karen Weaver, has said her conversation with Musk's team gave her hope that Musk could help with improving <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/elon-musk-pledges-fix-flint-water-homes-contamination/story?id=56565573" target="_blank">local confidence</a> in water quality.
</p><p>
If Musk can help achieve safe drinking water more quickly for every home in Flint, then he should be lauded. Water is life. Giving all of the residents of Flint confidence in the safety of the tap water in their homes helps restore their lives and dignity.
</p><p>
<em>Reposted with permission from our media associate </em><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/can-elon-musk-fix-flints-water-99888" target="_blank">The Conversation</a></em><em>.</em>
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A pair of Genusee glasses and a Flint-sewn polish bag. Genusee
When Detroit-area native Ali Rose VanOverBeke came back home in 2016 to volunteer with the Red Cross at the height of the Flint, Michigan water crisis, she probably didn't expect to get a business idea with the potential to change both her and Flint's future.
<p>But that is exactly what happened. VanOverBeke noticed the buildup of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/plastics" target="_self">plastic</a> water bottles outside people's homes, which residents had to rely on for drinking water since their tap water was contaminated by <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/lead" target="_self">lead</a>. </p><p>"They're not just facing a manmade water crisis," VanOverBeke told <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Business/WorldNews/company-seeks-give-discarded-plastic-bottles-purpose-flint/story?id=55241831" target="_blank">ABC News</a> in a story published Thursday. "Now, there's like this localized, environmental stress because of the surplus of plastic that they've been forced to use."</p><p>To solve the problem, VanOverBeke turned to her former classmate at New School's Parsons School of Design Jack Burns. </p><p>The pair came up with a creative plan to transform the discarded water bottles into unique eyeglasses designed to fit anyone. </p><p>"Our goal is simple: do good for people and the planet using design and collaboration to be the change we want to see," a <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/genusee/genusee-eyewear-made-in-flint-from-recycled-water/description" target="_blank">Kickstarter</a> campaign for the project reads. </p><p>Last year, the pair set up a company for the glasses called Genusee, named after Flint's Genesee county. They plan for the company to be a "for Flint, by Flint" effort and are working on setting up a manufacturing facility in Flint. </p><p>"We are working toward really being a part of not just like the immediate solution in Flint but being a part of the long-term solution," VanOverBeke told ABC News.</p><p>To this end, they launched the Kickstarter campaign April 18 with the goal of hiring 17 new workers. With six hours to go as of this writing, they have raised $71,329, more than exceeding their $50,000 goal. </p><p>"Genusee is bringing a new manufacturing legacy to the city of Flint by creating jobs; turning the surplus of plastic waste caused by the man-made water crisis into closed loop eyewear," the Kickstarter campaign says.</p><p>Each pair of glasses recycles 15 single-use plastic bottles.</p><p>The glasses so far come in one style, called The Roeper, that the Kickstarter says is "democratically designed" to flatter a diverse array of face shapes. The frames come in Crystal Fog and Classic Black, and can be used for prescription glasses or sunglasses.</p><p>Currently, Flint residents are already involved with sewing the glasses' polish bags at a center that provides employment training for women. </p><p>"That we are able to take the water bottles that are just trash, to have them processed into new material, is so amazing to me," one of the sewers, Marty Calhoun, told ABC News.</p>
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Michigan Says Flint Water Is Safe to Drink, But Residents’ Trust in Government Has Corroded
04 May 2018
Popular
Researchers linked Legionnaires' disease patients to drinking water sourced from the Flint River. Steve Carmody / Michigan Radio / NPR
By Cedric Taylor
On April 6, with little warning, the state of Michigan closed water point of distribution (POD) centers that have provided residents in Flint for the past three years with bottled water to drink, cook and bathe. This move was based on analysis showing that the city's water quality had tested below action levels defined in federal drinking water regulations for nearly two years.
The state's decision to close the PODs signals that with respect to water quality, Flint's water crisis is over. But for thousands of Flint residents, the trauma it inflicted persists.
<p>
The actions that led up to the Flint water crisis did not occur in a vacuum. As a sociologist based in Michigan, whose research focuses on social inequality, racism and racial health disparities, I was driven to explore the context behind one of the most significant public health crises in modern history. Because film can be a powerful medium for conveying inequalities, I chose to direct and produce a documentary on the crisis.
</p><p>
My documentary, "<a href="https://www.noranydropfilm.com/" target="_blank">Nor Any Drop to Drink: The Flint Water Crisis</a>," is scheduled for streaming and video-on-demand release in August 2018. From meeting Flint residents and talking to them about their water problems, I can see that more than pipes have been corroded. State and federal mishandling of the city's water crisis has all but destroyed trust in government agencies among Flint's residents.
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<strong>'We Are an Invisible People'</strong>
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Flint's water crisis is a story of bad decisions by government officials. In 2014, under a state-appointed <a href="http://michiganradio.org/post/how-did-we-get-here-look-back-michigans-emergency-manager-law" target="_blank">emergency manager</a>, Flint's drinking water source was switched from the Detroit water system to the Flint River, even though this move relied on a hastily refurbished and understaffed treatment plant. The state carried out inadequate and improper sampling of the water distribution system, in violation of the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sdwa" target="_blank">Safe Drinking Water Act</a>.
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Michigan officials <a href="http://michiganradio.org/post/after-ignoring-and-trying-discredit-people-flint-state-was-forced-face-problem#stream/0" target="_blank">disregarded</a> and attempted to <a href="http://michiganradio.org/post/expert-says-michigan-officials-changed-flint-lead-report-avoid-federal-action" target="_blank">cover up</a> compelling evidence of water quality problems and associated health effects. A spokesman for the Department of Environmental Quality stated in 2015 that Flint residents "<a href="http://michiganradio.org/post/leaked-internal-memo-shows-federal-regulator-s-concerns-about-lead-flint-s-water#stream/0" target="_blank">can relax</a>," despite their expressed concerns.
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These repeated assurances exposed thousands to contaminated water. In the <a href="https://www.noranydropfilm.com/sign-up" target="_blank">documentary</a>, Nakiyah Wakes, a Flint mother who blames her <a href="http://www2.ku.edu/~kuwpaper/2017Papers/201703.pdf" target="_blank">miscarriages</a> and adverse behavioral changes in her children on the water, exclaims:
</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">
"I do not trust the water and … I probably will never trust the water again. I've lost all trust in our government—federal, state, I have lost trust in everyone!"<br>
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Lendra Brown, a senior citizen living in Northwest Flint who also accepted the state's assurances, lost two feet of her hair and still has rashes along her neck, jawline and legs. In one of the most poignant moments in the documentary, Brown states: "They are killing us … they killed us. We are an invisible people … and we don't matter."
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<strong>Test Results Aren't Enough</strong>
</p><p>
Michigan officials ended the bottled water program after testing mandated by the U.S. <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa">Environmental Protection Agency</a>'s <a href="https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPDF.cgi?Dockey=60001N8P.txt" target="_blank">Lead and Copper Rule</a> showed that 90 percent of <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/snyder/0,4668,7-277-57577-465766--,00.html" target="_blank">water samples collected in Flint this year</a> contained an average of four parts per billion of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/lead">lead</a>—well below the 15 parts per billion federal threshold. <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/som/0,4669,7-192-29701_74909_74922-457586--,00.html" target="_blank">According to the state</a>, "Flint's water is testing the same or better than similar cities across the state and country."
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However, this provides little reassurance to the community given the state's record, as well as concerns about the pace of pipe replacement and the scope of water testing to date.
</p><p>
Flint's <a href="https://www.cityofflint.com/fast-start/" target="_blank">FAST Start program</a>, funded by state and federal agencies, has set a goal of replacing lead service lines that connect water mains to homes across the city by 2020. As of December 2017, more than <a href="https://www.cityofflint.com/2017/12/18/6229-pipes-now-replaced-in-flint-through-mayors-fast-start-initiative/" target="_blank">6,000 pipes</a> had been replaced, but approximately 12,000 lead service lines were still in place. Residents who were filmed, and who I still speak with regularly, worry that replacing lines may disrupt and release lead flakes into the water system. Further, pipes and fixtures inside many homes and businesses are old and corroded and could still leach lead.
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<strong>Lead Is Not the Only Issue</strong>
</p><p>
The state's rationale for ending the bottled water program is based on testing for lead, but for residents this has never been the only concern. In late 2014, there were reports of elevated levels of <a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/01/flint_water_has_high_disinfect.html" target="_blank">total trihalomethanes (TTHM)</a>, a group of water disinfection byproducts, some of which are classified as <a href="https://www.des.nh.gov/organization/commissioner/pip/factsheets/ard/documents/ard-ehp-13.pdf" target="_blank">possible or probable carcinogens</a>. And between June 2014 and November 2015, 87 cases of <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/legionnaires-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20351747" target="_blank">Legionnaires' disease</a>, a waterborne illness, were reported in surrounding Genesee County, resulting in 12 deaths. In February 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention <a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2017/02/cdc_finds_first_genetic_link_b.html" target="_blank">announced evidence</a> of a connection between city water and patients diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease.
</p><p>
Governor Rick Snyder's office has <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/snyder/0,4668,7-277-80388_80397-465766--,00.html" target="_blank">said</a> that water filters and replacement cartridges will remain available for people who are concerned about the process of service line replacements, or who "would feel more comfortable using a filter until their confidence in the water quality can be reestablished." This approach puts much responsibility on residents, who risk further problems from contaminated water if they do not properly install or maintain the filters. Further, according to the Genesee County Medical Society, the filters <a href="http://ns.umich.edu/new/releases/24818-steps-for-flint-residents-to-reduce-bacteria-in-filtered-water" target="_blank">reduce but do not eliminate</a> lead and other contaminants, such as bacteria.
</p><p>
Buying <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/bottled-water">bottled water</a> is not an option for many of the 45 percent of Flint residents who <a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/09/flint_is_nations_poorest_city.html" target="_blank">live below the poverty line</a>. Therefore, families who have children or members with compromised immune systems—two groups who are especially vulnerable to water contamination—now may have no choice but to take a chance on the city's water.
</p><p>
<strong>Who Matters?<br>
</strong>
</p><p>
"<a href="https://www.facebook.com/NorAnyDroptoDrink/" target="_blank">Nor Any Drop to Drink</a>" is ultimately a story about power, and about who really matters. Michigan has had to commit more than <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/flintwater" target="_blank">$350 million</a> to Flint to fund water quality improvements, pipe replacements, health care and educational resources. The free bottled water program was costing the state an estimated <a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2018/03/states_average_monthly_bottled.html" target="_blank">$653,075 per month</a> on average. Participants in the documentary say they believe their government's decisions have prioritized controlling costs, not their health and well-being. Ending the bottled water program is consistent with that philosophy.
</p><p>
From the start of this crisis, state officials have controlled much of the narrative about drinking water safety. What residents knew didn't matter for many months, and they suffered as a result. From the community's standpoint, stopping the bottled water program looks like an effort to close the book on this issue. Flint residents fear that Michigan may shirk its responsibility to make long-term, expensive fixes, and that the world now has permission to stop paying attention to their ongoing water problems.</p>
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</p><div id="633cd" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="EM36L81576663911"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="988440125066629120" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">World’s Largest Environmental Prize Honors Historic Number of Women, Including Flint Water Activist… https://t.co/22cEwsncRF</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/988440125066629120">1524497464.0</a></blockquote></div>
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<p><em>Cedric Taylor is an assistant professor of sociology at Central Michigan University.</em><br></p><p>
<em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://theconversation.com/michigan-says-flint-water-is-safe-to-drink-but-residents-trust-in-government-has-corroded-95358" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
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World’s Largest Environmental Prize Honors Historic Number of Women, Including Flint Water Activist
23 April 2018
Popular
A woman who helped expose the Flint, Michigan water crisis is one of the seven environmental activists and six women to be honored with the 2018 Goldman Environmental Prize.
The prize, whose winners were announced Monday, was established by San Francisco philanthropists Richard and Rhoda Goldman in 1989. It is the largest award in the world for environmental activism.
<p>More women were chosen for the 2018 prize than at any other point in the prize's nearly 30-year history, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/23/unprecedented-win-for-women-in-top-global-environment-awards-goldman-prize" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>. </p><p>Among <a href="https://www.goldmanprize.org/pressroom/2018-press-resources/" target="_blank">these inspiring women</a> is <a href="https://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/leeanne-walters/" target="_blank">LeeAnne Walters</a> of Flint, Michigan, who led other concerned citizens in testing tap water in the city and discovered that the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/lead" target="_self">lead</a> levels in one in six homes exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa" target="_self">EPA</a>) safety threshold. </p><p>According to Walters' official bio on the Goldman Prize website, in April 2014, state and local officials switched Flint's drinking supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River as a cost-cutting measure. As the year progressed, Walters observed her family's health deteriorate. In July, her three-year-old twins were diagnosed with scabies. Then clumps of her hair and her daughter's hair fell out, and her eyebrows fell off. Finally, her 14-year-old son got sick in December. </p><p>She complained to the city about the water, but no one came to test it until February 2015, when they found lead levels of 104 parts per billion, past the level at which the government is legally required to warn residents.</p><p>The city told Walters that her case was isolated, but she researched Flint's history and discovered that Flint River water is exceptionally corrosive. Officials had not done enough to mitigate that before sending it through the city's pipes, causing lead to leach into the water. She gathered more than 800 water samples from every zip code in Flint and, in some homes, found lead levels double what the EPA deems hazardous waste. </p><p>Due to a public outcry spurred by Walters' findings, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder announced Flint would stop using Flint River water in October 2015. </p><p>Walters is now applying the skills she developed in Flint to work with Virginia Tech on <a href="https://crowdfund.vt.edu/project/9102" target="_blank">U.S. Water Study Research</a>, a nationwide project. </p><p>"[O]ur mission is to support collaborative research between scientists, affected residents, and other stakeholders in order to address infrastructure inequality, water contamination, waterborne diseases and lack of trust, occurring in economically-disadvantaged rural towns and post-industrial cities across the U.S.," its website reads. </p><p>Walters joins an impressive array of fellow winners representing every continent. </p><p>The European winner is <a href="https://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/claire-nouvian/" target="_blank">Claire Nouvian</a>, who led a campaign against deep-sea bottom trawling, a fishing practice in which fleets drag nets along the bottom of the seafloor, damaging everything they touch and picking up <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/marine-life" target="_self">marine life</a>, such as sharks and crustaceans, by accident that are then discarded and rarely survive. Nouvian's efforts led French supermarket chain Intermarché to alter its fishing techniques in 2014 and convinced first France in 2015 and then the EU in 2016 to ban the practice. </p><p>From Africa, the winners are <a href="https://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/makoma-lekalakala-liz-mcdaid/" target="_blank">Makoma Lekalakala and Liz McDaid</a> of South Africa, who led a successful campaign to stop a secret <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/nuclear" target="_self">nuclear</a> deal between their country and Russia, which would have made South Africa entirely responsible for any accidents. The Western Cape High Court ruled the deal unconstitutional in 2017 due to their efforts. </p><p><a href="https://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/khanh-nguy-thi/" target="_blank">Khanh Nguy Thi</a> of Vietnam was the prize winner from Asia due to her efforts to shift her country away from <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coal" target="_self">coal</a> and towards <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" target="_self">renewable energy</a>. In 2016, Vietnam's revised Power Development Plan followed Nguy Thi's recommendation of sourcing 21 percent of the nation's power from renewable sources by 2030. </p><p><a href="https://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/manny-calonzo/" target="_blank">Manny Calonzo</a>, representing islands and island nations as the only male winner this year, convinced the government of the Philippines to ban lead paint and then helped establish an independent certificate program to ensure paint companies followed the law. The program certified 85 percent of the country's paint market as safe by 2017. </p><p>Finally, the South and Central American winner is <a href="https://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/francia-marquez/" target="_blank">Francia Márquez</a>, who stopped illegal gold mining in the Afro-Colombian region of La Toma by organizing a 10-day march of 80 women to Colombia's capital. </p><p>Márquez sees her work as part of a larger shift in how the earth is valued. </p><p>"Our time has come, we must act, we have a responsibility to future generations to leave a better world, in which taking care of life is more important than producing cumulative wealth," she told The Guardian.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="f4f9d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="XEPZA11576661773"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="960661855445356544" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">How the Wonder of Nature Can Inspire Social Justice Activism https://t.co/UeUWWsrUMY @Greenpeace @World_Wildlife @Earthjustice</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/960661855445356544">1517874609.0</a></blockquote></div>
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