In 2014, the city of Flint, Michigan, located nearly 70 miles north of Detroit, decided to switch water sources from Lake Huron to Flint River in order to reduce the water fund shortfall. Since the 1970s, the water located in the Flint River was severely neglected and contaminated due to, “toxic substances, fecal coliform bacteria, low dissolved oxygen oils, and plant nutrients,” according to the State of Michigan’s DNR. The Department of Environmental Quality in Michigan was not treating the water with an anti-corrosive agent, and since the water wasn’t treated as needed, lead from aging service lines began leaching into the Flint water supply. This lead health effects of lead exposure to become prominent in the community, such as hearing …show more content…
The neglected, corrosive water wrought havoc: discolored and distasteful water, bacterial contamination, rashes, skin irritation, water leaks and breaks, one of the largest outbreaks of Legionnaire's disease, and increased amount of pneumonia deaths, and-as proven to a dismissive government- lead exposure. Potent and inflicting harm, lead affects cognition and behavior and can do tremendous damage. This tragedy can not be dismissed from Flint’s history. They have suffered decades of unemployment, racism, poverty, population loss, poor education system, and violence, Flint is where our problems are most striking; life expectancy in Flint is 15 years less than in a neighboring zip code, that’s saying something. There is no magic medicine for lead, and for a time span of 18 months, the people of Flint were drinking this water while being told by their government to relax. This 18 months seems to be an eternity in the developing nervous system of a child. Fixing Flint will take more than just a short-term investment in all areas. With a high childhood poverty rate, the most helpful thing we could do is lift these people from the years of harm, and injustice. Every single thing mentioned above is a hurdle for these kids and sometimes, the tipping point can be between success and survival. Children are waking up to an existence fighting against them, from the rust belt to coal country and beyond. These children are facing toxic stress, whether it be poverty, racism, violence, or contaminated water. Flint has awoken the nation to ongoing issues, lead contamination, water quality, and environmental injustice. If administration continues to had regulatory cutbacks in public health and environmental protection, this devastating case will not be the only one and will cause unnecessary harm