When Flint, Michigan, was under state management, water supplies were disconnected from the regional system. Flint residents were forced to rely on the extremely corrosive Flint River as their primary drinking and utility water supply until the pipes could be constructed (Pauli, 2020). With this method, the objective was to minimize expenses and save money while not considering the long-term effects of the decisions taken. As soon as officials said they would not detect a difference in the water quality, people started to demonstrate against it. Everyone and everything was affected by the rusty and poisonous water, which irritated skin and hair and muscle pain and discomfort. Because of the very corrosive quality of water, large, successful corporations like Common Motors were incorrectly given precedence in using clean water rather than providing clean water to the general population for their essential human need. After cancer-causing substances were detected in the water, administration officials continued to conceal them, stating that everything was under control when, in fact. Some individuals started to express their worries about their health and well-being to save money, which is unethical and discouraged. Citizens were accused of lying about the quality of their water by government officials, even if they brought samples from their faucets to the office to corroborate the officials’ claims.
When the city’s lead levels reached seven times the legal limit, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent officials to Flint. Flint is said to have answered cryptically to conceal that no corrosion control treatment was performed. Local authorities had made a catastrophic error by neglecting to manage the corrosiveness of the water, which had enabled lead and rust to infiltrate throughout the city’s ancient infrastructure. If lead poisoning in children is not handled appropriately, poor cognitive and behavioral development and organ damage may be passed down down the generations. Legionnaire’s disease, a pneumonia-related ailment, claimed the lives of ten people in the United States in 2015 (Pauli, 2020). Many inhabitants, many of whom are minorities or hail from low-income families, find the initial cost of acquiring a water filter too expensive. The people were unhappy, which is a clear example of environmental justice because they could not trust the government and felt unprotected and disregarded, which is a clear case of environmental injustice. Also, the population was plagued by issues of decreased fertility and health at birth.
References
Pauli, B. J. (2020). The Flint water crisis. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, 7(3), e1420. Web.