The Flint water crisis was a public health crisis that started in 2014 and lasted until 2019, after the drinking water for the city of Flint, Michigan was contaminated with lead and possibly Legionella bacteria. Published: Feb. 24, 2021 at 7:32 PM PST. As of mid April, the judge has still not made a decision. Join us for a virtual Claims Process Town Hall, Thursday, May 20, 2021 at 6:00 pm. However, like many of the local official charges, they were dropped in 2019 as a new team headed by Whitmer took charge. Then in 2015, a Virginia Tech study found that the water was highly poisonous, as the lead levels were much higher than what was legally allowed. January 23, 2021. That move set off a years-long health crisis that has devastated lives and led to the indictment of the state’s former governor and eight other public officials. The Snyder administration also refused to acknowledge that the water was unsafe. These complaints were ignored by both the media and local government officials. While the city is still dealing with the fallout of exported automotive jobs and an underfunded local government, the worst of the water crisis looks to be over. The authors acknowledged limitations to the study, including that the survey sample was not randomly selected and that symptoms were self-reported and could have been affected by recall bias. Photo source: EVM archives. The phrase environmental racism is defined as “environmental injustice that occurs within a racialized context.” Certain minorities are more likely to live in areas stricken by poverty, adverse effects of climate change, and pollution, putting these communities at greater risk for environmental crises. City of Flint reminds residents of March 29, 2021, Flint Water Settlement deadline. Factors other than water contamination, they cautioned, could have contributed to elevated blood lead levels and other reported symptoms. On Apr. May 6, 2021 National News. April 24, 2021, 10:43 a.m. However, much of the remaining industry has been closed down due to increases in oil prices and the progressive overtake of American auto companies by foreign competitors. 25, 2021 marks the 7th anniversary of the Flint Water Crisis. Pro Publica. Flint’s water gets worse -- after 2 million gallons of sewage dumped into river. The study used validated surveys to measure feelings of depression or anxiety and of post-traumatic stress disorder, as was observed in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and more recently in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. Judge hears arguments for sending Flint water cases back to lower court. In a survey of more than 300 residents, 10% reported having been diagnosed by a clinician with elevated blood lead levels – well above national averages – after a state-appointed city manager, as part of a cost-saving measure, switched the city’s water source to one that became contaminated with lead and harmful bacteria on April 25, 2014. FILE - In this Jan. 18, 2016 file photo, water analysis test kits for Flint… “If you don’t trust your water and you actively avoid it over persistent concerns on its safety, that’s a stark form of psychological trauma in and of itself,” said Jerel Ezell, assistant professor in the Africana Studies and Research Center in the College of Arts and Sciences. FLINT, Michigan — Flint residents have less than one week remaining to register for the Flint Water Settlement to receive a portion of the $641.2 million available. Image by Linda Parton, Shutterstock. Florida State […] Fast forward to 2021. The more physical symptoms one reported, the study determined, the more likely they were to report psychological symptoms. Regardless of whether Snyder is acquitted or convicted, his charge shows that the judicial system is taking environmental crimes more seriously. Jan. 12, 2021, at 4:17 p.m. Key Moments in Flint, Michigan’s Lead-Tainted Water Crisis. Snyder is now charged with willful neglect, a charge that could mean up to a year of jail time or a fine of $1000. Twelve people died and more than 80 were sickened during the Flint water crisis, and now authorities are holding Michigan officials responsible. The surveys were administered at nine public sites – including libraries, a laundromat, a café and a bus station – in an effort to capture the racial and socioeconomic diversity across the low-income, predominantly Black city. New research from Cornell and the University of Michigan offers the first comprehensive evidence that the city’s adult residents suffered a range of adverse physical and mental health symptoms potentially linked to the crisis in the years during and following it, with Black residents affected disproportionately. Published: Jan. 27, 2021 at 3:36 PM PST. In March 2021, residents were able to apply for compensatory stipends that aimed to alleviate some of the financial burden the water crisis had on the city. FLINT, Mich. (WJRT) - The circumstances that ultimately led to the Flint water crisis started nearly a … Lead levels over 15 parts per billion are unsafe, and the study found an average of 2000 parts per billion, with a low of 300 and a high of 13,000. Posted by: City of Flint news. There is a growing distrust of General Iron because of the closed door meetings the company has had with Mayor Lori Lightfoot. LindaParton/iStock. However, the damage was already taking effect, as lead poisoning in children doubled from the initial switch in 2014 to the study late in 2015. For instance, a majority of Flint’s residents are Black. The results – 26.3% of residents exhibited depressive or anxious symptoms, and 29% met criteria for trauma – revealed “a steep and broad mental health toll,” the researchers said. Most of the charges resulted in fines, but in 2017, former State Attorney General Bill Schuette leveraged involuntary manslaughter charges against the head of the transition team. However, from the crisis came greater national understanding and recognition of environmental injustice. Updated Apr 06, 2021; Posted Apr 06, 2021. In 2013, Flint went bankrupt because of financial mismanagement and saw a steep increase in joblessness. (CNN) Former Michigan Gov. According to the City of Flint, 9,912 lead pipes (and galvanized-steel pipes that contain flakes of lead) had been removed and replaced as of December 25, 2020. This plant would drastically harm the air purity and quality of life for those living in and around the area. Flint’s water crisis began long before the national media gave it attention in 2014. 25, 2014, Flint, Michigan, switched its water source from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to the Flint River temporarily. Formerly known as General Iron, Southside Recycling is being called out for their plan to move a recycling/scrap metal facility to the Southeast of Chicago, a collection of minority neighborhoods. The city’s financial woes would soon exacerbate its water troubles. … The Flint water crisis signals that environmental crises and instances of environmental racism are receiving more publicity. Flint was once a hub for automotive production, and still is to a degree. More:Flint water crisis attorney fees: Who would get how much of the $203M, and why? April 15, 2021. At the beginning of his administration, Snyder appointed a transition team tasked with switching the city’s water source from Detroit to the heavily polluted Flint River. Since state austerity policies initiated a potable water crisis seven years ago in Flint, Michigan, public health monitoring has focused on potential developmental deficits associated with lead exposure in adolescents or fetuses exposed in utero. Flint residents line up for miles to get bottled water 02:27. Today in Flint, there is still general distrust of the water and government in general, although the water is under the legal limit for lead parts per billion. Over eighty cases and twelve deaths were recorded, making it one of the largest outbreaks of Legionnaires Disease in American history. Since state austerity policies initiated a potable water crisis seven years ago in Flint, Michigan, public health monitoring has focused on potential developmental deficits associated with lead exposure in adolescents or fetuses exposed in utero. “It is these forces,” they wrote, “that ultimately laid the groundwork for the devaluation of Flint’s water and negligence towards residents’ health.”. “Flint adults, particularly Blacks,” Ezell and Chase concluded, “experienced deleterious physical and mental health outcomes following the city’s water crisis that appear to represent a substantial burden of excess cases.”. Since 2016, a group of law firms have worked diligently on behalf of all putative members of the class action to achieve justice for the harm caused by the Flint Water Crisis. Soon after Flint switched its water source, residents began to complain about strange taste and color in their tap water. The team, along with the Snyder administration, decided to make the switch because they saw it as cost-effective. FLINT, Mich. (WJRT) - (02/24/2021) - People in Flint will soon be able to read the proposed Flint water crisis settlement for … For decades, companies and individuals used the Flint River as a dumping ground for contaminated materials and general refuse. Now, former Michigan governor Rick Snyder is facing a lawsuit that claims he failed the residents of Flint by approving the switch. . Register here. The case of Southside Recycling in Chicago reveals how greater public attention is being paid to environmental racism. In an April 23, 2021 press release Mayor Sheldon Neeley announced that “as of April 9, 2021, there have been excavations of pipes at 26,819 homes and 9,941 lead and/or galvanized steel pipes have been replaced. Nearly half the survey respondents reported experiencing skin rashes and more than 40% experienced hair loss, among physical symptoms associated with elevated levels of bacteria and heavy metals in water. Among those charged were Snyder, his chief of staff, and his senior adviser. While Flint’s residents paid a heavy burden, greater sensitivity to the intersection of climate change and racism has emerged as a silver lining. Black residents also reported significantly higher percentages of hair loss, nausea and emotional agitation. Prosecutors on the new case brought forth by current Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the state attorney general say that Snyder participated in a five-year-long cover-up of the incident, and that he should be held accountable. Henry Branch Most cases were prosecuted in 2016 and 2017, with key officials like emergency managers Gerard Ambrose and Darnell Earley charged with multiple felonies. © 2021 The Gate. FLINT, Mich. – It’s been seven years since the water switch that took lives, impacted the health of thousands and exposed dangerous government flaws. Even before the Flint water crisis, Michigan struggled with water issues like zebra mussels, dumping from the Wolverine Boot Company, PFAS contamination, and its ongoing fight with Wisconsin for bottling rights. They asked, for example, if respondents had persistent and ongoing thoughts about the quality of their tap water, or if they blamed themselves or someone else for the city’s water crisis. Mayor Neeley says the city of Flint is expecting to complete 3 major water infrastructure projects before the end of the year. April 24, 2021, 10:43 a.m. Growing backlash to environmental disasters like this one and the Flint Water Crisis might suggest that governments are changing the way they deal with environmental crises and environmental racism. By ABC12 News Staff. At least dozen people died and more than 80 people were sickened with Legionnaires' disease after water from the Flint River caused lead to leach from old pipes, poisoning the water … Ezell and Elizabeth Chase, a doctoral student at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, are co-authors of “A Population-Based Assessment of Physical Symptoms and Mental Health Outcomes Among Adults Following the Flint Water Crisis,” published March 31 in the Journal of Urban Health. This switch would prove catastrophic in the months and years to come and is still felt today by Flint residents. Rick Snyder and former Flint Public Works director Howard Croft were each charged Wednesday with two counts of … Read about how it started, the current settlement in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and impacts on the Flint community. In this approximately 15-minute interview, the Flint Courier News’ Tanya Terry speaks one on one with Dr. Karen Weaver. Furthermore, those that contracted Legionnaires Disease will deal with side effects like poor lung health and shortness of breath for the rest of their lives. The findings, they said, point to the need for continued testing of Flint’s water quality and any potential negative health impacts, and a broader imperative to restore civic trust by addressing “macrosocial forces, many of which have racist and classist antecedents,” that contributed to the crisis. Citation: Water crisis took toll on Flint adults' physical, mental health (2021, April 15) retrieved 17 May 2021 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-04-crisis-toll-flint-adults-physical.html It’s been seven years since the city of Flint, Michigan responded to a budget shortfall by switching its water source from Detroit, which draws from Lake Huron, to the Flint River. State officials still insisted that the water was safe even after this incriminating evidence. Flint residents commemorate 7 years of water crisis with letter to officials, vow to continue ‘fighting for justice’ Updated Apr 25, 2021; Posted Apr 25, 2021 9 LindaParton/iStock (FLINT, Mich.) — Some Flint, Michigan, residents who may have been affected by lead in their water during the 2014 crisis may now be exposed to radiation in an effort to get a share of the $641.25 million water crisis settlement. Many local news stations and community leaders are opposing the new move, citing environmental injustice among other factors. More. The city switched its drinking water source from Detroit, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) south, to the Apr. In 2014, these issues came to a head when contaminated water caused an outbreak of Legionnaires Disease in Flint. By Henry Branch / April 24, 2021, 10:43 a.m. Flint, MI in July 2010. The data nonetheless suggests, Ezell said, that Flint’s adult residents experienced significantly more adverse health symptoms during and in the years after the water crisis’ initiation than would be expected from the city’s population. This is not as harsh as the involuntary manslaughter or perjury charges that faced many of the other state officials involved, but is still consequential. More. While it might be some time before regulators and local government fully manages the company’s proposed movements, this could be a turning point. Many people that worked on Snyder’s transition team were also indicted. Residents also have the option of opting out of the settlement. 232. FLINT, Mich. (WJRT) - (1/27/2021) - People impacted by Flint’s water crisis, seeking money for the harm it caused, can now register to file a … Nearly 60% of Black respondents reported skin rashes beyond what they considered normal before the crisis, compared with 33.9% of whites. The Legionnaires Disease outbreak also happened simultaneously with the switch. After the Flint Water Crisis started to garner national media attention, the state attorney’s office began to press charges against certain government members. Genesee County Circuit Judge Elizabeth A. Nine people have been charged following a new investigation of the Flint water disaster, including the former Michigan governor Rick Snyder … However, like most of the cases, they were dropped in 2019 after the gubernatorial race ended Snyder’s administration. / Designed & built by Euirim Choi '19. The study received funding support from the National Science Foundation. Published: Jan. 15, 2021 at 3:41 PM PST. Along with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and with direct oversight from the governor’s office, this team implemented the switch while also proposing that a new pipeline from Lake Huron would be built to eventually deliver cleaner water, and that Flint would only temporarily get its water from the Flint River. Coupled with ongoing complaints from city residents regarding their water supply, this led to a state-run investigation into the switching of Flint’s water sources from the city’s original, safer Detroit plant to the local and more polluted Flint River. Residents of the southeast side of Chicago filed a lawsuit against the creation of this plant earlier in 2021. Jan. 12, 2021, at 10:14 p.m. Flint Water Crisis: Rooted in Neglect, Fallout Continues. By That being said, many residents still use bottled water out of distrust of the government. Ezell and Chase found that more than half the respondents were never screened for elevated blood lead levels, but that Black residents were nearly twice as likely to seek screening as whites – possibly an indication that they perceived a higher threat level, Ezell said, similar to the gap in threat perception seen across race in relation to COVID-19’s severity. Even several years after the city switched back to its original water source in 2016, the researchers said, federal, state and local government guidance, and guidance from healthcare practitioners in the city, about tap water safety remained ambiguous and often contradictory. The government assured residents that the water was safe to drink, while residents still distrusted their word. The remaining used safe water pipe material and did not need to be replaced. The Flint Water Crisis in 2021: Accountability in the Age of Climate Change. The story behind the Flint water crisis 02:01. / The researchers conducted surveys in late 2019 as part of the Flint Community Engagement Project, a longitudinal study started in 2017 for which Ezell, a native of the Flint area, serves as principal investigator. Flint residents affected by water crisis may be getting exposed to harmful radiation A Population-Based Assessment of Physical Symptoms and Mental Health Outcomes Among Adults Following the Flint Water Crisis, Faculty examine racism ‘embedded’ in US health care, Cornell expertise helps deliver clean, safe water to NYC. Flint water crisis victims may need X-rays for compensation, raising health concerns. More than a quarter of respondents reported symptoms of depression or anxiety, and nearly a third had PTSD symptoms specifically related to the water crisis.
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