Your water may have been poisoned for months. At least, that’s according to reports out of Michigan. Officials in the state declared a public health emergency Thursday over the city of Flint’s water in response to tests that showed children with elevated levels of lead.
Residents had been complaining for months about their water’s smell and taste.
A day after Gov. Rick Snyder said the consequences of using the Flint River for the city’s drinking water weren’t “fully understood,” Genesee County Commissioners recommended that people not use the water unless it first goes through an approved filter at taps.
A group of doctors called a news conference last week to report high levels of lead in blood samples from children, as the corrosive water is apparently releasing lead from old pipes in homes. It was among the most significant challenges to the quality of Flint water since the city decided last year to stop paying Detroit for its water service.
Mayor Dayne Walling said Thursday residents should follow the county commission’s declaration on using filters certified for lead removal, having water tested and flushing cold water for five minutes before drinking it.
A coalition of local citizens and national groups petitioned Thursday to order Michigan and state environmental officials to reconnect Flint to Detroit water.
Detroit’s water system serves about 4 million people in communities across southeastern Michigan.
Flint is among a number of communities that have complained about the rising cost of Detroit’s water and sewerage service. City officials estimated the cost of buying water from Detroit at $16 million. They turned off Flint’s tap to Detroit water in April 2014 and opted for Flint River water until the city switches to a new pipeline from Lake Huron. The overall annual cost to be part of the Lake Huron system would be $12.5 million.
But residents have been unhappy with the taste and appearance of water from the Flint River. They also have raised health concerns, reporting rashes, hair loss and other problems. A General Motors plant stopped using the water, saying it was rusting its parts.
More concerns surfaced after Virginia Tech researchers posted an online report in early September saying Flint’s water is “creating a public health threat” in old homes that have lead pipes or pipes fused with lead solder.
The Associated Press contributed to this article
Truth is, the contamination of our air and water seems to be low on that list of high priorities today. We all live under the guise that this higher education equation will magically solve all our future problems. That is a fools parade at best and here’s why. Sure a career in something which pays big big bucks is a wonderful thing but, it’s a one-sided argument that goes against the norms of all logic if that same city water supply feeding the faucets of your house, business or that same college you once attended are tainted with health damaging cancer-causing toxins…
We humans drive too and fro to work and play, high above us those once clear blue skies are now laced with deadly poisons that will enter our mortal bodies blood supply at one point! Obviously, this Geo Engineering insanely is for some alien specie that we terraform our planet, for its? Continuing existence and not ours…
My short list of top priorities to clean-up our world’s natural resources does not contain the words, “Global Warming.” For that is a myth but, global pollution is a hellish reality that we are all soon going to face, like it or not….
Lastly, back in the late 70s one commercial that brainwashed a generation stated with these words,” WITH OUT CHEMICALS LIFE WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE.” We were deceived big time and power and greed won a major victory….
That so-called (safe dish washing liquid via soap in that 16 ounce container is highly toxic too. Alone if dumped into a small freshwater lake it would contaminate all the water for weeks if not years, its that concentrated…….
True… and remember the other one.? “The phrase “Better Living Through Chemistry” is a variant of a DuPont advertising slogan, “Better Things for Better Living…Through Chemistry.” DuPont adopted it in 1935 and it was their slogan until 1982 when the “Through Chemistry” part was dropped. Since 1999, their slogan has been “The miracles of science”.[1]” Wikipedia
Those chemicals are killing us now. Our pollution and infrastructure (except for the almost a trillion dollars that BO wasted on it (unaccountable and no infrastructure repairs) are totally ignored. Meanwhile, BO and his feckless administration ‘fiddles’ while The USA goes under for the umpteenth time, the Middle East is on fire and they kowtow to the UN..