The Flint Water Crisis

[phonics]

It seems to have been bubbling under for about a year but this is starting to get tragic. For all that don't know Flint, Michigans pipes are filled with lead leading to people bathing, drinking and cooking water that has Neurotoxins in it. The Mayor knew, the Governor knew (they'd switched to drinking bottled water months previous) but didn't tell the populace.

This has been going on for years and happening in a first world country. It's mental.

A primer:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXHgmuwOWNU&feature=youtu.be

[Magic]

Yeah, sounds absolutely tragic mate. How many have died so far? :harold:

[QE Harold Flair]

Water palava. What lead to all this?

[phonics]

Yeah, sounds absolutely tragic mate. How many have died so far? :harold:

Ten from Legionella's Disease so far, a massive spike in miscarriages, children as young as 2 showing lead levels off the charts and a series of other diseases


On November 13, 2015, four families filed a federal class-action (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_action) lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._District_Court_for_the_Eastern_District_of_Mi chigan) in Detroit against Governor Rick Snyder (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Snyder) and thirteen other city and state officials, including former Flint Mayor Dayne Walling (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dayne_Walling) and ex-emergency financial manager (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_emergency_in_Michigan) Darnell Earley (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darnell_Earley), who was in charge of the city when the switch to the Flint River was made. The complaint (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complaint_(law)) alleges that the officials acted recklessly (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recklessness_(law)) and negligently (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negligence), leading to serious injuries from lead poisoning (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_poisoning), including autoimmune disorders (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoimmune_disorder), skin lesions (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_lesion), and "brain fog (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_fog)."[117] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis#cite_note-117)[118] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis#cite_note-118)[119] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis#cite_note-Bethencourt-119)


Childhood lead exposure causes a reduction in intellectual functioning and IQ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ), academic performance (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_performance), and problem-solving (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem-solving) skills, and an increased risk of attention deficit disorder (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_deficit_disorder), aggression, and hyperactivity. According to studies, children with elevated levels of lead in the blood are more likely as adults to commit crimes, be imprisoned, be unemployed or underemployed, or be dependent on government services.[143] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis#cite_note-LeadCosts-143)[144] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis#cite_note-144)[145] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis#cite_note-145) A 2014 study by researchers at Risk Science Center at the University of Michigan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Michigan), completed before the Flint water crisis came to light, estimated the annual cost of childhood lead exposure in Michigan at $330 million ($205 million in decreases in lifetime earnings, $105 million in additional criminal justice system (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_justice_system) expenditures, $18 million in health expenditures to diagnose and lead positioning and lead-linked attention deficit disorder), and $2.5 million in additional special education (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_education) expenditures.[143] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis#cite_note-LeadCosts-143)

Because the developmental effects of lead exposure appear over a series of years,[146] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis#cite_note-146) the total long-term cost of the Flint water crisis "will not be apparent in the short term."[147] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis#cite_note-Feldscher-147) However, the cost is expected to be high. Philippe Grandjean (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Grandjean_(professor)) of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_T.H._Chan_School_of_Public_Health), an expert in the effects of environmental pollution on brain development, said that "when calculated from the loss of lifetime income, the societal costs from increased lead exposure reach billion dollar amounts."[147] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis#cite_note-Feldscher-147)

To put into perspective this whole thing, it can be correlated that the drop in crime has little to do with policing strategies but actually the widespread use of unleaded petrol rather than leaded.

http://www.nber.org/digest/may08/w13097.html

This woman puts across the case very well

https://vid.me/zDpS

[Giggles]

Hadn't heard of it at all. Sounds disgraceful but unfortunately unsurprising.

[Magic]

PI lawyer's wet dream.

[7om]

Heard about this a while back.

The new twist on the story is that the local officials knew but because Flint is predominantly black they didn't bother doing anything. Michigan is just a dump in general anyway, nuke it and be done with it.

[Baz]

Was worried for Smiffy, thinking it was Fflint. Phew!

[Pepe]

It is absolutely tragic. Yet more evidence of how fucked up this country is. Not much will come out of it either, I'm sure. They'll just throw it under the 'shit happens' rug like everything else (except terrorism of course, that's serious business.)

[Lewis]

It sounds like classic incompetence (and subsequent incompetent attempts to contain it) than anything sinister and worthy of race-baiting. I saw it defined as terrorism on Facebook earlier, with 'white privilege' the given reason for the media not reporting it as such.

[Sam]

America in ignoring a predominantly black area shocker!

[Pepe]

It sounds like classic incompetence (and subsequent incompetent attempts to contain it) than anything sinister and worthy of race-baiting

Don't disagree, but it so happens that 'incompetence' is most often found in poor, segregated districts. They are not poor and segregated by accident.

[randomlegend]

If authorities knew and covered it up, that's more than 'incompetence', surely?

[Magic]

Flint sounds familiar. What is it famous for? Was it in a Michael Moore documentary or something?

[Pepe]

If authorities knew and covered it up, that's more than 'incompetence', surely?

Definitely negligent, but I am not sure if it could be called purposeful. Or at least I hope so.

[Pepe]

Flint sounds familiar. What is it famous for? Was it in a Michael Moore documentary or something?

You're thinking of the Flintstones mate.

[Giggles]

Flint sounds familiar. What is it famous for? Was it in a Michael Moore documentary or something?

Bowling for Columbine.

[Smiffy]

Was worried for @Smiffy (http://www.thethirdhalf.co.uk/member.php?u=142), thinking it was Fflint. Phew!

Nothing will kill the rodents from that Flint. Nothing.

[Magic]

Bowling for Columbine.

Cheers, knew it sounded familiar. Idiot Pep.

[mikem]

And Roger and Me, which is both the last thing he did that was really good and illustrates "Why in Flint?"

[Giggles]

And Semi Pro :cool: