The People of Flint, Michigan have been through enough Governor Snyder! Do the right thing: Resign from office!
To put some perspective on the over two yearlong water crisis tormenting the people of Flint, one must first understand the history of this city, its relationship with pollution, and the auto-makers who polluted it.
In 1907, GM founded what would later be a multi-billion dollar, multi-national company. The company set its headquarters in Flint, Michigan. It would employ as many as 349,000 people in plants around the world. Several of these plants were located in Flint, and others in the neighboring towns of Saginaw, Pontiac, and Lansing. It was an industry that boomed, and directly contributed to the growth and prosperity of the city. Times were good for the residents of Flint, for years. Little did these residents realize, however, that their city was being poisoned.
The development of automobiles and their supporting components, like any young technology, used toxic chemicals that even today remain in the environment of most industrial cities. Flint’s relationship with lead actually began almost 80 years ago. David Rosner, who teaches History & ethics of public health at Columbia University explains: “By 1936, the car industry had become very dependent on lead. It went into their batteries and welding, paints, lacquers, enamels and other finishes, as well as the gasoline GM cars depended on. As any old car enthusiast knows, when refinishing an old car, make sure to wear a mask. Huge amounts of lead and other toxins were pumped into the air, water, streams, and ground in and around the mammoth car factories in Flint and other Michigan cities. It is unlikely that anyone living in or near Flint then—or today—could escape the impact of unrestrained pollution.”
Lead was also used in the residential infrastructure mating welds that connected Flint’s municipal water supply to each house that received water service. Most of these houses were built in the 1930’s and 40’s, when the danger of lead was unrealized. And even with lead in the pipes leading up to the homes, citizens were in no danger, as long as the lead stayed in the pipes. For over 50 years, Flint’s residents got their water from Lake Huron distributed by the Detroit Water and Sewage Department (DWSD). The water system was adequate and safe.
Things began to turn badly for the citizens of Flint in the late 1980s, when GM closed several factories. The city suffered severe economic depression from having more residents than available jobs. A resulting spike in crime rate followed and Flint became known as “one of the most dangerous cities in the United States.” Eventually the city’s coffers ran dry and the local treasury found itself in a series of economic crises. Governor Rick Snyder sent an 8 member review team to Flint to assess its economic status. The team recommended appointing an emergency manager to make drastic changes to try and save Flint from bankruptcy. That manager looked over the budget and attempted to cut costs wherever possible. One of these savings would come by changing water supply from Lake Huron to water from the Flint River. The change would save the city a total of $4 million. The switch was made and a new water was flushed through the old pipes that comprised Flint’s aging distribution network. With the new water differing chemically from the old water, a far more corrosive water was now interacting with the lead solder welds that had been safe for so many years before. Lead then leeched from those welds and entered the homes of most of the residents of Flint.
So now there are economically depressed, crime-ridden citizens, who have grown up in an environment polluted by lead (and other toxins), receiving tap water which contains dangerous levels of lead. This lead, when consumed, can cause lead poisoning and Legionnaires disease.
Residents complained about the water’s color and odor. But for months they were ignored and told that the water was fine. It took almost a year of complaints and investigations until, finally in October 2015, officials switched the water supply back to the DWSD. But the damage to the welds was done. Filters were supplied to residents, but there was little more the city could do in the short term.
Today the residents of Flint find themselves in terrible position. The pipes leading up to the homes must be replaced in order to eradicate the poisoned welds. The many cases of lead poisoning and legionaries disease must be dealt with for years to come. Steps need to be taken to hold the people responsible for this disaster accountable for their actions. The related health costs are estimated of over a billion dollars.
Governor Snyder claimed that the reason for this crisis was failures on multiple levels of government. He was pressured to release emails regarding his handling of the situation. The New York Times reviewed these emails: “the documents provide a glimpse of state leaders who were at times dismissive of the concerns of residents, seemed eager to place responsibility with local government and, even as the scientific testing was hinting at a larger problem, were reluctant to acknowledge it.”
So it seems Snyder and his cohorts were more interested in finding where to place the blame then actually doing what was best to immediately fix the problem. The role of a governor is to fix the problems that face his state by delegating the responsibilities to his officials. He is much like the CEO of a company. He is responsible for the overall success of his state. If a CEO were running a company that faced such catastrophic failures with a portion of his company, there is good chance he would be out of a job once the dust settled.
Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber resigned from office in 2009 over a scandal involving his fiancée’s role as an advisor with a conflict of interest. No people were injured in this controversy and the lies amounted to little more than a few fibs to make money. In Michigan, however, the citizens were ignored and lied to about critical issues affecting their very survival. Congressman Matt Cartwright (Rep Pa) scolded Snyder during a Congressional hearing on the state of the water in Flint, MI: “There you are dripping with guilt but drawing your paycheck, hiring lawyers at the expense of the people and doing your dead-level best to spread accountability to others. Pretty soon we will have men who strike their wives saying, ‘I’m sorry dear but there were failures at all levels.’ People who put dollars over the fundamental safety of the people do not belong in government, and you need to resign!”
The story continues to develop as investigations into the events lead to conclusions of who is responsible. Michigan’s attorney general is filing criminal charges against three government employees involved in the water crisis in Flint. The state alleges the workers tried to hide problems with the city’s contaminated water supply.
Attorney General Bill Schuette is charging two state environmental officials and a Flint city official with felonies for misleading regulators about the amount of lead in Flint’s water and falsifying reports about the water quality. Schuette alleges the criminal activity involved “intentionally tampered (sic) with evidence of lead levels on certain water samples in homes of residents of Flint.” For his part, Governor Rick Snyder says he finds the charges “troubling.” But when the Governor was asked if he feared he had done anything that could result in criminal charges, Snyder responded “I don’t believe so.”
His answer is less than inspiring and somewhat tinged with equivocation. Even if Snyder stays free of criminal charges, his actions as a governor were inadequate to say the least.
Every week there is a new development, and with no shortage of dramatic events. Just yesterday it was reported the first person to file a suit over the wrongdoings affecting Flint residents was shot and killed in her home.
A bigger problem than one city
Flint’s situation has brought to the attention of Americans something that few give much thought to: dilapidated infrastructure. It is out of sight and therefore, out of most of our minds. But when something catastrophic goes wrong, and something as integral as water distribution becomes compromised, we are forced to evaluate the state of our infrastructure, which is sadly outdated.
The cost of repairing and replacing the 13,000 lead service lines damaged by the Flint water change is anywhere from $55 million to $400 million. Plans are currently underway to have the system repaired within a year.
Flint is reflective of water distribution systems in most other cities across the U.S. Though they don’t have the lead problem Flint does, they do have an outdated infrastructure that can be a danger and at the very least, inefficient. Also included under the category of infrastructure are; roads, bridges, dams, sewers, electrical grids and tunnels.
It is a tough sell to get politicians to allocate money for a mostly hidden cost. So these structures suffer years of neglect. The American Society of Civil Engineers rated America’s infrastructure with a score of D+. It will take billions of dollars to make the repairs and replacements necessary, however, the work must be done before we face another consequence of inaction, such as the one the residents of Flint are facing.
In order to avoid another disaster like this one, experts should be involved in a decision making process like this. If only Flint officials had consulted a water resource engineering firm before they made this decision, this whole thing could have been avoided. In the future, decisions like these will most likely be made under much more scrutiny.
In an effort to save $4 million, over a billion dollars will have to be spent in order to fix this one single problem. If any good can come out of this, hopefully it forces us to be made aware of the serious infrastructure neglect in this country and take steps to update these systems. The residents of Flint will suffer, and hopefully not without affecting a nationwide change that is paramount in our country.