the water crisis in flint, michigan
High levels of lead have plagued Flint's municipal water supply for at least a year, prompting extensive emergency measures to keep residents safe.In November, Flint citizens filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of victims of high levels of lead against Snyder, the state of Michigan, the city of Flint and other state and city officials. The investigation by the U.S. attorney's office comes more than a year after the city of more than 100,000 people began getting water from the Flint River instead of from Lake Huron via Detroit's water system. The move was announced as a temporary, cost-cutting measure until Flint could get Great Lakes water on its own, according to the class-action lawsuit.
Recent estimates have indicated that it could take up to 15 years and over $60 million to fix the problem, and the residents will be essentially forced to live there until the problem is solved. Despite the fact that the issue is obviously the government’s responsibility, they have made it illegal for people to sell their homes because of the fact that they are known to carry contaminated water. Meanwhile, residents are still left to purchase bottled water on their own, in addition to paying their water bill. |