Residents ask, “Are they trying to kill us?”

Latest

Water wars in Flint, Michigan. The water in Flint, Michigan contains excessive levels of cancer causing trihalomethanes. PHOTO/NAYYIRAH SHARIFF
Water wars in Flint, Michigan. The water in Flint, Michigan contains excessive levels of cancer causing trihalomethanes.
PHOTO/NAYYIRAH SHARIFF

[water wars]
Flint, —The water crisis here has reached a tipping point. The Department of Environmental Quality has ordered the city’s Emergency Manager to issue notices to water customers that Flint’s water violates the Clean Water Act Standards. The water drawn from the Flint River (temporarily while a new pipeline to Lake Huron is built) contains excessive levels of cancer causing trihalomethanes (TTHMs).
The notice urges citizens not to panic. It says that the water is safe, yet cautioned “elderly and households with infants” or others with “compromised immune systems” to “consult their physicians”! Local hospitals and colleges are scrambling to upgrade their filtering systems and monitor water quality in response to the alarming reports. In the meantime, town hall meetings and demonstrations all over town are being held to confront the crisis. A lawsuit is in the making.
Residents have known that something was wrong with this water since spring of last year, when the Flint River was used. Aside from a series of water boil advisories, countless complaints of skin rashes and physical illness have fallen on deaf ears of the Emergency Manager regime.
This past October, the General Motors Engine plant asked for and received permission to discontinue Flint water usage since high levels of chloride were rusting axle parts—the same chloride levels that have exposed us to the unacceptable TTHM levels. Under corporate dictatorship, an engine part has more value than the health and well being of human beings.
Water Rate Scandal
Even before the Department of Environmental Quality issued it’s finding on the life threatening contaminants in Flint’s water, the cost of water here became mind-boggling. Like Detroit, excessive water rates have resulted in numerous water shutoffs. In one year’s time, over 10,000 property liens have been issued due to water debts. Flint water rates are the highest in the state.  Homeowners as well as renters are leaving the city in droves to deal with the crisis. Others have their water on “illegally”, hoping they won’t be discovered and face prosecution. Yet, bondholders and banks have not missed one payment while the citizens living under Emergency Manager rule, are gauged to pay for water that we own but do not control.
In their quest for quality and affordable water, the citizens of Flint are writing a new chapter in the struggle. Who would have imagined that the home of the great Sit Down strike would be called on to fight under the banner: WATER IS LIFE!

+ Articles by this author

Claire McClinton is a Flint resident and UAW retiree.

Free to republish but please credit the People's Tribune. Visit us at www.peoplestribune.org, email peoplestribune@gmail.com, or call 773-486-3551.

The People’s Tribune brings you articles written by individuals or organizations, along with our own reporting. Bylined articles reflect the views of the authors. Unsigned articles reflect the views of the editorial board. Please credit the source when sharing: ©2024 peoplestribune.org. Please donate to help us keep bringing you voices of the movement. Click here. We’re all volunteer, no paid staff.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Featured

‘We Need Urgent Global Climate Action’

Eighty-nine percent of people worldwide want their governments to do more to address the global climate crisis. Conference on tipping points says situation is urgent. Meanwhile U.S. govt does more to boost fossil fuel forms of energy.

May Day 2025: United We Will Win

International Worker’s Day is celebrated on May 1st around the world. Today, the entire U.S. working class, of which immigrants comprise an integral part, is under attack. The defense of immigrants is vital to the defense of the entire working class.

White School Officer Pepper-sprayed and Kneed Black Beaumont, TX Student, Complaint says. Will Feds Act?

A 6-second video, recorded by a teacher and reviewed by the Texas Observer, shows an officer grabbing a student’s hair, kneeing her in the face, and knocking the 100-pound girl on her back.

Pope Francis Dies After Easter Plea to End War in Gaza

"In his final public message, Pope Francis decried the “terrible conflict” in Gaza.

Bring Union Brother Kilmar Home: His Deportation Is an Attack on All of Us

The deportation of union brother Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a gut punch to the labor movement, a slap in the face to every worker who dares to organize.

More from the People's Tribune