#lead water

[I gave away my invention, and my water, for free because]“I can only sleep in one room, I can only drive one car, I can only eat one meal at a time, why would I need so many?

 I can only touch what's within my arms reach, that’s what I can affect -- what I can see: that far. Everything past that, I can't do anything about it. But through teaching... they can carry this knowledge on passed that, just like the teachers who taught me in school are way gone somewhere else, but I’m still here carrying that spirit.”-- Moses West

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW3LfO990ho

The Snyder administration is ending state supported bottled water distribution in Flint.

The government started distributing bottled water to Flint residents after tests revealed extremely high levels of lead in the city’s drinking water.  

In the years since Flint’s water crisis began, thousands of city residents have made a trip to one of the government sponsored water distribution centers to pick up a free case or two of bottled water a regular chore.

Gov. Snyder cites tests showing lead levels in Flint drinking water well within federal and state guidelines. According to the state, tests show Flint’s water quality has tested below action levels of the federal Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) for nearly two years.  State officials say preliminary data for the first half of the current 6-month monitoring period shows that the 90th percentile of the Tier I (high-risk) samples collected are at or below 4 parts per billion (PPB), which is well below the federal action level of 15 ppb.

According to the state, nearly two years of LCR data and thousands of other tests show that Flint’s water is testing the same as or better than similar cities across the state.

“I have said all along that ensuring the quality of the water in Flint and helping the people and the city move forward were a top priority for me and my team. We have worked diligently to restore the water quality and the scientific data now proves the water system is stable and the need for bottled water has ended,” said Gov. Rick Snyder.

Distributing bottled water has been a large chunk of the more than $350 million the state has spent on the Flint water crisis.  The federal government contributed another $100 million.  The money has also been spent on pipe replacement, healthcare, nutritional food distribution, educational resources and job training.

The state will continue to provide water filters.

While state officials say the need for distributing bottled water has passed in Flint, city leaders disagree.

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver sent a letter to the governor this week asking that bottled water distribution continue until the city finishes replacing thousands of lead and galvanized pipes connecting Flint homes and businesses to city water mains. The service lines were a primary source of the lead in Flint’s drinking water. It’s a process that’s expected to take a few more years to complete.

The state’s decision to end bottled water distribution is being criticized.

“It’s beyond belief that the governor expects the folks in Flint to trust the government now, when they lied to our faces about lead in our water just a few years ago,” says State Sen. Jim Ananich (D-Flint). “That trust was broken, and families in Flint still don’t feel that the water in their homes is safe to drink. We won’t feel safe drinking our water until every bad pipe is replaced, and the administration that caused this disaster needs to make sure bottled water stays available until that happens.”

A state spokeswoman says the water distribution sites will remain open until the last of the remaining bottled water cases are handed out. Spokeswoman Tiffany Brown says there is enough on hand for a few more days depending on demand.

3 Years, 10 Months, and 16 Days. We will not be forgotten!

Just in case Reduction In Quality Education doesn’t make the population complaint, let’s also poison the water so we reduce Intellectual Capacity!

Former Flint emergency manager Darnell Earley is scheduled to appear in court Monday.

Earley served as Flint’s emergency manager from September 2013 through January 2015.

It was during that time the city’s drinking water source was switched to the Flint River with disastrous results.

Prosecutors charged Earley with Misconduct in Office, Neglect of Duty and False Pretenses.  He’s also facing an involuntary manslaughter charge.

Gina Luster bathed her child in lukewarm bottled water, emptied bottle by bottle into the tub, for months. It became a game for her seven-year-old daughter. Pop the top off a bottle, and pour it into the tub. It takes about 30 minutes for a child to fill a tub this way. Pop the top, pour it in; pop the top, pour it in. Maybe less if you can get gallon jugs.

Luster lives in Flint, Michigan, and here, residents believe tap water is good for one thing: to flush the toilet.

“I don’t even water my plants with it,” she said.

Flint became synonymous with lead-poisoned water after government officials, looking to save money, switched the city’s water supply from Detroit city water to water from the corrosive Flint river.

Once the city had switched, the number of children with elevated lead exposure doubled; residents reported unexplained rashes and losing hair. An unpublished study recently found fetal deaths in Flint increased by 58% during the crisis.

Suddenly, Flint was a cause célèbre. The Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders held a debate in Flint.Barack Obama visited to raise morale. Americans who could afford it started ripping out old lead pipes. Media outlets across the country started examining their own towns for lead.

Despite having endured lead-laden tap water for years, Flint pays some of the highest water rates in the US. Several residents cited bills upwards of $200 per month for tap water they refuse to touch.

But just two hours away, in the tiny town of Evart, creeks lined by wildflowers run with clear water. The town is so small, the fairground, McDonald’s, high school and church are all within a block. But in a town of only 1,503 people, there are a dozen wells pumping water from the underground aquifer. This is where the beverage giant Nestlé pumps almost 100,000 times what an average Michigan resident uses into plastic bottles that are sold all over the midwest for around $1.

To use this natural resource, Nestlé pays $200 per year.

There are fewer places for Flint residents to get free bottled water these days.

In August, Flint’s seven water distribution centers handed out 11,061 cases of bottled water a day. That's nearly 300,000 cases for the entire month.

But just after Labor Day, the state closed three of the centers. Of the nine original sites, only four remain, located in different quadrants of the city.  

State officials are trying to encourage Flint residents to rely more on filtered water from their own taps than on cases of bottled water. Recent tests have shown lead levels in Flint’s tap water are well below the federal action level.

Still, public distrust of the official test results means many Flint residents aren’t switching just yet.

Officials say the four remaining centers will remain open indefinitely.