Flint water crisis: 5 things to know
You know the basic facts.
To save money, officials in Flint, Mich., stopped using water from Lake Huron to draw it instead from the Flint River.
The problem: Flint River water was polluted and corrosive. And lead soon began to leach from the city's old pipes.
Not surprisingly, residents noticed the dirty and foul-tasting water and began to complain of ill health effects, including rashes. Tests showed high levels of lead in the tap water.
Since then, congressional officials have launched an inquiry. They've even notified U.S. Marshals to "hunt him down," if they can't find Flint emergency manager Darnell Earley to get him to testify about the crisis.
Here's more you need to know.
1. Lead damage is permanent.
Lead is toxic. It serves no purpose in the human body. And lead poisoning is irreversible.
The resultant neurological damage causes hearing loss, learning disabilities, speech deficits and behavioral problems in children — and even lesser-known problems, such as hypertension and damage to the kidneys and reproductive organs — in adults. Lead can even pass through a placenta to a fetus.
2. Too little, too late.
A group of pastors in the impoverished city sought state action shortly after water began to be drawn from the Flint River in April 2014. But Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder didn't acknowledge the severity of the contaminated water until Oct. 1 of last year. And the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been accused of dragging its feet. In January, President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Flint. And last month, Michigan State Police and other state officials finally began delivering filters and bottled water door to door in Flint. The U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee launched hearings into the crisis Wednesday, with the chairman, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, calling the situation in Flint "a failing at every level" of government.
3. To the rescue.
The real heroes, if there are any, may be those guys who help unclog your sink. Licensed plumbers across Michigan arrived in Flint last weekend to begin replacing faucets and installing free water filters provided by the state. They will continue on a weekly basis as long as they're needed, said Ben Ranger of the Michigan Pipe Trades Association. “This should be all hands on deck. This is our state,” he said. And, ironically, there's a silver lining: Flint residents are finally embracing curbside recycling — what with all the empty plastic water bottles and jugs now lying around.
4. It's worse than you think.
Flint has now switched back to Lake Huron water, but the problem won't be over for a long time. Because state officials failed to add corrosion-control chemicals to the Flint River water, lead leached from the city's old pipes, joints and fixtures, contaminating drinking water for an unknown number of households. Snyder estimates it could cost more than $700 million and take years to repair the damaged infrastructure. But Flint Mayor Karen Weaver said Tuesday that the city must begin removing and replacing lead pipes "immediately." They'll start in the highest-risk homes with pregnant women and children younger than 6.
5. It happens here, too.
Young children in 11 New Jersey cities and two counties have higher levels of lead in their blood than the children of Flint. And Indiana's children are suffering, too. Indianapolis is way behind on lead-mitigation efforts in its housing, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Nearly two-thirds of Indiana's nearly 2 million homes were built before 1978, when lead-based paint was banned for residential use. And of 48,500 children screened in 2013, more than 2,300, or about 5 percent, had elevated blood-lead levels, according to an Indiana State Department of Health report.
Detroit Free Press reporters Paul Eagan and Kristen Jordan Shamus and IndyStar reporters Brian Eason and Ryan Sabalow contributed to this story.
Call IndyStar digital producer Dwight Adams at (317) 444-6532. Follow him on Twitter: @hdwightadams.
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