Flint residents in 2014-15 had been on the suffering end of things as the City authorities decided to forgo the water services of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, and relied on the cost-cutting mechanism of sourcing it from the Flint River.
However, even on opting to do so, a thorough mechanism did not opt for to ensure proper treatment of water. This proved to be disastrous for the entire neighborhoods as they began getting water with a yellow-brown tint to it, which also had a foul smell to it.
Through a detailed investigation, it was found that the pipes carrying the water were old and laden with led on the inside, which would get absorbed into the water, making it a hazardous consumption. This equivalent of poisonous water was supplied in over 100,000 homes.
The locality which comprised of largely impoverished, mostly Blacks suffered from 80 people falling sick, and 12 deaths owing to the mismanagement. When the crisis broke out, and United Way charity, an organization was distributing free bottled water, they estimated that this event has had a profound impact on children.
Data suggests that 6,000-12,000 children, were exposed to the contaminated water, and became a serious issue. As per experts such kind of consumption of lead “can cause learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and, at very high levels, seizures, coma, and even death,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As a staunch measure, the state’s former Republican Governor Rick Snyder, its former Michigan Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon, and eight other former officials face charges of willful neglect of duty and involuntary manslaughter, to orchestrating and failing to prevent such an environment and health-related crisis, by the State’s Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel.
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Only one conviction has taken place in this case, of the State’s then Director for Disease Control, as she pleaded guilty of misdemeanors and willful neglect of duty. The judge handed her a sentence of $1,200 fine, and 300 hours of Community Service.
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