56 min
The Flint Water Crisis | EnvironMental Podcast EnvironMental with Dandelion
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- Entrepreneurship
This week on the podcast, we start diving into fresh water access.
In the US, having access to fresh water is treated like a privilege, especially for poor communities. The clearest example of that is the Flint Water Crisis.
aub did a deep dive into the timeline of what happened in Flint - its not pretty.
The problem in Genessee County, Michigan hit national and international news in 2016. But by then it had already been almost two years since the water crisis started.
aub shares the timeline of events because every step of the way show how severely mishandled this situation was from the start. It shows the blatant disregard for the Flint community.
The Flint water crisis is seen as a political scandal now - but that feels like it doesn't do the situation justice.
100,000 PEOPLE DIDN'T HAVE CLEAN DRINKING WATER FOR FOUR YEARS. And the story is still unfolding in the aftermath.
Corruption, mismanagement, and poisoning of an entire community of people, done for a pennies on the dollar savings venture.
The government ignored and gaslit the citizens of Flint, they sidestepped culpability, and treated their city like it was expendable.
Would this happen in a white community? In a rich neighborhood?
In a low-crime city?
No. Absolutely not.
References:
Flint Stats and US stats from the US Census Bureau.
Timeline from NPR
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/20/465545378/lead-laced-water-in-flint-a-step-by-step-look-at-the-makings-of-a-crisis?t=1628953587723
Associated Press timeline: https://apnews.com/article/us-news-health-michigan-rick-snyder-flint-7295d05da09d7d5b1184b0e349545897
The September 2015 health advisory to the citizens of Flint
http://flintwaterstudy.org/2015/09/public-health-advisory-regarding-lead-in-flint-water-from-the-genesee-county-board-of-commissioners/
The 2017 Michigan Civil Rights Commission statement: The Flint Water Crisis: Systemic Racism through the Lens of Flint
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdcr/VFlintCrisisRep-F-Edited3-13-17_554317_7.pdf
Evidence of the cover up found:
https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2019/04/millions-of-flint-water-documents-found-in-basement-prosecutors-claim.html
The most current info on Rick Snyder charges:
https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/michigan/2021/03/18/ex-michigan-gov-rick-snyder-loses-challenge-to-flint-water-charges/
This week on the podcast, we start diving into fresh water access.
In the US, having access to fresh water is treated like a privilege, especially for poor communities. The clearest example of that is the Flint Water Crisis.
aub did a deep dive into the timeline of what happened in Flint - its not pretty.
The problem in Genessee County, Michigan hit national and international news in 2016. But by then it had already been almost two years since the water crisis started.
aub shares the timeline of events because every step of the way show how severely mishandled this situation was from the start. It shows the blatant disregard for the Flint community.
The Flint water crisis is seen as a political scandal now - but that feels like it doesn't do the situation justice.
100,000 PEOPLE DIDN'T HAVE CLEAN DRINKING WATER FOR FOUR YEARS. And the story is still unfolding in the aftermath.
Corruption, mismanagement, and poisoning of an entire community of people, done for a pennies on the dollar savings venture.
The government ignored and gaslit the citizens of Flint, they sidestepped culpability, and treated their city like it was expendable.
Would this happen in a white community? In a rich neighborhood?
In a low-crime city?
No. Absolutely not.
References:
Flint Stats and US stats from the US Census Bureau.
Timeline from NPR
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/20/465545378/lead-laced-water-in-flint-a-step-by-step-look-at-the-makings-of-a-crisis?t=1628953587723
Associated Press timeline: https://apnews.com/article/us-news-health-michigan-rick-snyder-flint-7295d05da09d7d5b1184b0e349545897
The September 2015 health advisory to the citizens of Flint
http://flintwaterstudy.org/2015/09/public-health-advisory-regarding-lead-in-flint-water-from-the-genesee-county-board-of-commissioners/
The 2017 Michigan Civil Rights Commission statement: The Flint Water Crisis: Systemic Racism through the Lens of Flint
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdcr/VFlintCrisisRep-F-Edited3-13-17_554317_7.pdf
Evidence of the cover up found:
https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2019/04/millions-of-flint-water-documents-found-in-basement-prosecutors-claim.html
The most current info on Rick Snyder charges:
https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/michigan/2021/03/18/ex-michigan-gov-rick-snyder-loses-challenge-to-flint-water-charges/
56 min