10 Matching Annotations
  1. Sep 2016
    1. EPA failed to properly exercise its authorityprior to January 2

      It is worrisome how national organizations responded improperly to the crisis in Flint. These bigger agencies should have been able to come to the rescue and begin to supply clean drinking water to this city, but instead the EPA only made things worse. People should be able to trust the national protection agencies put in place to support and maintain our country. It is sad to read that people had to fight with groups, such as the EPA, just to receive a clean natural resource that they thought they had been denied.

    2. Perhaps most notably, we are deeply indebted to the members of the Flint community and safe drinking water and public health advocates who ultimately entrusted us with profound expressions of their frustrations, concerns, perspectives and hopes for the future. We are especially thankful to Flint residents for giving voice to the searing personal costs that are too often muted in the discourses about public

      I think that this community should be proud of how they fought to have their concerns heard. It was almost impossible for the people of Flint to get their frustrations and worries addressed seriously, but certain community members never stopped fighting. These people should be proud of the fact that they have helped to save countless children who would be suffering the effects of lead poisoning without any cure.

    3. The Flint water crisis occurred whenstate-appointed emergency managers replaced local representative decision-making in Flint, removing the checks and balancesand public accountability that comewith public decision-making.

      I am curious as to why emergency managers were put into power in the first place. Was there a problem with the previous decision that involved public decision-making? What could the emergency managers have done to avoid the Flint water crisis?

    1. “I didn’t get in this field to stand by and let science be used to poison little kids,” Edwards said. “I can’t live in a world where that happens. I won’t live in that world.”

      Edwards' motivation is very inspiring. His mindset seems to be fairly simple, as he says that he cannot just live in a world where little children are knowingly being poisoned. His work makes me wish that I could always give my full support and energy to issues in order to create such impactful and beneficial change.

    2. But in July, a high level EPA official ignored it and told the mayor of Flint everything was fine. The mayor famously went on television and drank a glass of the city’s water to prove that all was well.

      The extents to which people will go to make big problems seem insignificant are mind-blowing. I do not understand how high ranking officials can knowingly ignore abnormal lead levels that are affecting the health of our nations citizens. Are the leaders, like this EPA official, receiving any consequences for their actions?

    3. It was Edwards, 51, who more than a decade earlier proved, along with an investigation by The Washington Post, that corrosion in the nation’s capital’s pipes had caused lead to seep into the water supply and pass through kitchen faucets and shower heads. After helping to expose that water crisis in 2004, he spent six years challenging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to admit they weren’t being honest about the extent of the damage the lead had on children.

      These accomplishments deserve a lot of recognition. Edwards' discoveries helped to improve the health of many cities across the United States. It is crazy that it took six years for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to admit the true effects that lead had on children. What would have happened if someone had not stood up and fought to solve this problem?

    1. Eighteen cities in Pennsylvania alone, Vox's Sarah Frostenson found, have higher rates of lead exposure in their kids' blood than Flint.

      This statistic is very disheartening. I was unaware that lead contamination in water was occurring in so many areas other than Flint. The fact that 18 cities in Pennsylvania have higher rates of lead exposure in their kids' blood is extremely alarming, especially after reading about how this crisis in Flint has torn apart a community and altered the loves of children negatively.

    2. Lead poisoning affects the development of children's brains and nervous systems in irreversible ways. Children exposed to lead have lower IQs and are more likely to have difficulty focusing and paying attention. They can have difficulties with learning, speaking, and language processing. They're more likely to be impulsive and aggressive and to be diagnosed with ADHD. Many of these problems are lifelong.

      It is extremely terrible that the children who consumed the tainted water will have to deal with the repercussions for their entire lives. It is completely unfair how these people, who should have been able to trust the leaders of their community, have fallen victim to the lack of responsibility of those in control of the water in Flint. These children will forever have difficulties understanding the world around them, and the worst part is that they did nothing to deserve it and the problem should never have occurred in the first place.

    3. Even before the lead crisis, Flint was struggling. About 40 percent of its residents live in poverty.

      It is interesting how Flint, Michigan was already experiencing many different problems before the lead crisis. Is it possible that problems with poverty and crime lead to the state's delayed response to the water contamination?

    4. A steady drip of emails and documents show the state's long indifference to its residents' concerns. And the effects of lead poisoning on the city's children will last a lifetime.

      I think it is extremely concerning that the complaints and concerns of the residents of Flint, Michigan were ignored for so long. It is tragic that we now know that the long-term health effects from the lead poisoning could have been addressed much earlier. I feel like it would be extremely hard for a community to return to its previous greatness after an issue this devastating.