Water, Water, Everywhere? the Flint Water Crisis

Water, Water, Everywhere? the Flint Water Crisis PDF

Author: Natalina A. Aquino

Publisher:

Published: 2018

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9781526460639

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When the city of Flint switched its source of municipal drinking water to the Flint River, the water lacked corrosion control treatment. The contaminated water led to multiple residents being diagnosed with lead poisoning, while an outbreak of legionnaires disease believed to be linked directly to the river water resulted in numerous deaths. This case encourages students to appraise the Flint water crisis, the roles of key individuals and stakeholders, and what is now being done to remedy the situation. This case will allow students to apply ethical theories and concepts to the Flint water crisis specifically, as well as to discuss emerging issues around water access and affordability, water pollution and quality, delayed infrastructure investment, and the impacts of social and economic inequality as they make a text-to-world connection.

The Poisoned City

The Poisoned City PDF

Author: Anna Clark

Publisher: Metropolitan Books

Published: 2018-07-10

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 1250125154

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When the people of Flint, Michigan, turned on their faucets in April 2014, the water pouring out was poisoned with lead and other toxins. Through a series of disastrous decisions, the state government had switched the city’s water supply to a source that corroded Flint’s aging lead pipes. Complaints about the foul-smelling water were dismissed: the residents of Flint, mostly poor and African American, were not seen as credible, even in matters of their own lives. It took eighteen months of activism by city residents and a band of dogged outsiders to force the state to admit that the water was poisonous. By that time, twelve people had died and Flint’s children had suffered irreparable harm. The long battle for accountability and a humane response to this man-made disaster has only just begun. In the first full account of this American tragedy, Anna Clark's The Poisoned City recounts the gripping story of Flint’s poisoned water through the people who caused it, suffered from it, and exposed it. It is a chronicle of one town, but could also be about any American city, all made precarious by the neglect of infrastructure and the erosion of democratic decision making. Places like Flint are set up to fail—and for the people who live and work in them, the consequences can be fatal.

Flint Fights Back

Flint Fights Back PDF

Author: Benjamin J. Pauli

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2019-05-07

Total Pages: 433

ISBN-13: 0262536862

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An account of the Flint water crisis shows that Flint's struggle for safe and affordable water is part of a broader struggle for democracy. When Flint, Michigan, changed its source of municipal water from Lake Huron to the Flint River, Flint residents were repeatedly assured that the water was of the highest quality. At the switchover ceremony, the mayor and other officials performed a celebratory toast, declaring “Here's to Flint!” and downing glasses of freshly treated water. But as we now know, the water coming out of residents' taps harbored a variety of contaminants, including high levels of lead. In Flint Fights Back, Benjamin Pauli examines the water crisis and the political activism that it inspired, arguing that Flint's struggle for safe and affordable water was part of a broader struggle for democracy. Pauli connects Flint's water activism with the ongoing movement protesting the state of Michigan's policy of replacing elected officials in financially troubled cities like Flint and Detroit with appointed “emergency managers.” Pauli distinguishes the political narrative of the water crisis from the historical and technical narratives, showing that Flint activists' emphasis on democracy helped them to overcome some of the limitations of standard environmental justice frameworks. He discusses the pro-democracy (anti–emergency manager) movement and traces the rise of the “water warriors”; describes the uncompromising activist culture that developed out of the experience of being dismissed and disparaged by officials; and examines the interplay of activism and scientific expertise. Finally, he explores efforts by activists to expand the struggle for water justice and to organize newly mobilized residents into a movement for a radically democratic Flint.

The Flint Water Crisis

The Flint Water Crisis PDF

Author: Michigan Civil Rights Commission

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2017-02-17

Total Pages: 138

ISBN-13: 9781546646402

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In January 2016, a series of states of emergency for the City of Flint were declared by the Mayor, the Governor and even the President. These declarations turned the attention of the state and nation to the Flint water crisis. As a result, the state, local and federal governments sprang into action. The National Guard was tasked to assist. FEMA1 sent representatives. Community organizations and non-profits from throughout the state, and even nationally, responded by volunteering, and sending bottled water. The Governor formed Mission Flint, which brought key members of the Administration together weekly, and the Legislature authorized a supplemental budget. Bottled water and water filters were distributed and residents were provided information in multiple languages. It was all hands on deck. From all accounts, the government was operating the way we would expect it to operate in response to an emergency. What then, was the problem? The timing. Preceding this flurry of "state of emergency" activity, Flint residents had been reporting heavily discolored and bad tasting water for well over a year. This report is triggered by the Flint Water Crisis, but in many ways is not just about Flint. This report seeks to outline a broader framework to explain why the crisis occurred and to propose a set of recommendations that minimizes and safeguards against similar crises in the future. Our report is not meant to assess blame, but to help ensure that such a crisis does not occur in the future and to address shortcomings that continue to persist over time.

Poisoned Water

Poisoned Water PDF

Author: Candy J Cooper

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2020-05-19

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 1547602333

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Based on original reporting by a Pulitzer Prize finalist and an industry veteran, the first book for young adults about the Flint water crisis In 2014, Flint, Michigan, was a cash-strapped city that had been built up, then abandoned by General Motors. As part of a plan to save money, government officials decided that Flint would temporarily switch its water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River. Within months, many residents broke out in rashes. Then it got worse: children stopped growing. Some people were hospitalized with mysterious illnesses; others died. Citizens of Flint protested that the water was dangerous. Despite what seemed so apparent from the murky, foul-smelling liquid pouring from the city's faucets, officials refused to listen. They treated the people of Flint as the problem, not the water, which was actually poisoning thousands. Through interviews with residents and intensive research into legal records and news accounts, journalist Candy J. Cooper, assisted by writer-editor Marc Aronson, reveals the true story of Flint. Poisoned Water shows not just how the crisis unfolded in 2014, but also the history of racism and segregation that led up to it, the beliefs and attitudes that fueled it, and how the people of Flint fought-and are still fighting-for clean water and healthy lives.

What the Eyes Don't See

What the Eyes Don't See PDF

Author: Mona Hanna-Attisha

Publisher: One World

Published: 2018-06-19

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 0399590838

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A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • The dramatic story of the Flint water crisis, by a relentless physician who stood up to power. “Stirring . . . [a] blueprint for all those who believe . . . that ‘the world . . . should be full of people raising their voices.’”—The New York Times “Revealing, with the gripping intrigue of a Grisham thriller.” —O: The Oprah Magazine Here is the inspiring story of how Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, alongside a team of researchers, parents, friends, and community leaders, discovered that the children of Flint, Michigan, were being exposed to lead in their tap water—and then battled her own government and a brutal backlash to expose that truth to the world. Paced like a scientific thriller, What the Eyes Don’t See reveals how misguided austerity policies, broken democracy, and callous bureaucratic indifference placed an entire city at risk. And at the center of the story is Dr. Mona herself—an immigrant, doctor, scientist, and mother whose family’s activist roots inspired her pursuit of justice. What the Eyes Don’t See is a riveting account of a shameful disaster that became a tale of hope, the story of a city on the ropes that came together to fight for justice, self-determination, and the right to build a better world for their—and all of our—children. Praise for What the Eyes Don’t See “It is one thing to point out a problem. It is another thing altogether to step up and work to fix it. Mona Hanna-Attisha is a true American hero.”—Erin Brockovich “A clarion call to live a life of purpose.”—The Washington Post “Gripping . . . entertaining . . . Her book has power precisely because she takes the events she recounts so personally. . . . Moral outrage present on every page.”—The New York Times Book Review “Personal and emotional. . . She vividly describes the effects of lead poisoning on her young patients. . . . She is at her best when recounting the detective work she undertook after a tip-off about lead levels from a friend. . . . ‛Flint will not be defined by this crisis,’ vows Ms. Hanna-Attisha.”—The Economist “Flint is a public health disaster. But it was Dr. Mona, this caring, tough pediatrican turned detective, who cracked the case.”—Rachel Maddow

Superman's Not Coming

Superman's Not Coming PDF

Author: Erin Brockovich

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2021-04-20

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 0525434593

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From the environmental activist, consumer advocate, and renowned crusader comes a riveting book that is "part memoir, part non-fiction report, and part call-to-action—a plea to readers to engage with the water crisis in America because no one else is going to do the work for you" (InStyle Magazine). Clean water is as basic to life on planet Earth as hydrogen or oxygen. In her long-awaited book—her first to reckon with the condition of water on our planet—Erin Brockovich shows us what’s at stake. She writes powerfully of the fraudulent science disguising our national water crisis: Cancer clusters are not being reported. People in Detroit and the state of New Jersey don’t have clean water. The drinking water for more than six million Americans contains unsafe levels of industrial chemicals linked to cancer and other health issues. The saga of PG&E continues to this day. Yet communities and people around the country are fighting to make an impact, and Brockovich tells us their stories. In Poughkeepsie, New York, a water operator responded to his customers’ concerns and changed his system to create some of the safest water in the country. Local moms in Hannibal, Missouri, became the first citizens in the nation to file an ordinance prohibiting the use of ammonia in their public drinking water. Like them, we can each protect our right to clean water by fighting for better enforcement of laws, new legislation, and stronger regulations.

Tainted Tap

Tainted Tap PDF

Author: Katrinell Davis

Publisher:

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 266

ISBN-13: 9781469662121

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"After a cascade of failures left residents of Flint, Michigan, without a reliable and affordable supply of safe drinking water, citizens spent years demanding action from their city and state officials. Complaints from the city's predominantly African American residents were ignored until independent researchers confirmed dangerously elevated blood lead levels among Flint children and in the city's tap water. Despite a 2017 federal court ruling in favor of Flint residents who had demanded mitigation, such efforts have been incomplete at best. Assessing the challenges that community groups faced in their attempts to advocate for improved living conditions, 'Tainted Tap' offers a rich analysis of conditions and constraints that created the Flint water crisis"--

Lead Wars

Lead Wars PDF

Author: Gerald Markowitz

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2014-08-15

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 0520283937

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In this incisive examination of lead poisoning during the past half century, Gerald Markowitz and David Rosner focus on one of the most contentious and bitter battles in the history of public health. Lead Wars details how the nature of the epidemic has changed and highlights the dilemmas public health agencies face today in terms of prevention strategies and chronic illness linked to low levels of toxic exposure. The authors use the opinion by Maryland’s Court of Appeals—which considered whether researchers at Johns Hopkins University’s prestigious Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI) engaged in unethical research on 108 African-American children—as a springboard to ask fundamental questions about the practice and future of public health. Lead Wars chronicles the obstacles faced by public health workers in the conservative, pro-business, anti-regulatory climate that took off in the Reagan years and that stymied efforts to eliminate lead from the environments and the bodies of American children.

Not a Drop to Drink

Not a Drop to Drink PDF

Author: Kenneth Midkiff

Publisher: New World Library

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 1930722680

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In some parts of the United States, water is disappearing as consumption exceeds supply. In other parts, battles are raging that will determine both the cost and the quality of a simple glass of water. Not a Drop to Drink comprehensively examines the imminent crisis of America's water supply and explains what readers everywhere can do about it. In this straightforward, story-driven book, Ken Midkiff talks to crusty ranchers in Topeka, suited lawyers in Atlanta, and smooth-talking politicians in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Using regional and national case studies, he analyzes and presents the roots of the problem, and then says what we must do to solve it. Written by one of the foremost experts on America's water supply, Not a Drop to Drink is a must-read book for concerned citizens nationwide.