Lessons we learn from the Flint disaster
Published January 22, 2016
Editorial by Burlington Times-News, January 20, 2016.
When government leaders furrow their foreheads in puzzlement about why people don’t trust leaders these days they need look no further than what happened in Flint, Mich.
Make no mistake, this isn’t a regional story. It’s one all should pay attention to. And I’m talking about the news media, too.
So what happened in Flint a taxpayer in Alamance County might wonder. Well, to save money, the state of Michigan poisoned the children of Flint.
That’s right. They poisoned poor children in a city that couldn’t really defend itself. They did so in secret, where all bad government decisions are rendered.
And then newspapers and TV and the internet let it pass unnoticed. That’s on us, that’s our job — to notice misdeeds by government and bring it to light. It's a troubling sign of the times in media, where too few reporters are in the field.
Michigan officials apparently thought so little of the impoverished city and its 100,000 residents, most of them poor and people of color, that they switched the water supply from the pure waters of Lake Huron to the brackish Flint River. Then they broke federal law by neglecting to treat the water with an anti-corrosion agent, which would have cost about $100 a day.
The water’s heavy iron content ate into the water lines, about half of which are made of lead. The water smelled and tasted foul, but state officials said everything was fine, even though a university research team said the lead content was dangerously high.
Finally a pediatrician compared the blood lead levels of toddlers she was seeing with records on hand from previous years. She saw lead levels had doubled or even tripled since the water line switch.
Lead poisoning is irreversible. To save a relatively small amount of money, the state may have doomed these children to lower IQ levels, behavioral problems, growth delays, hearing difficulties and a host of other physical and neurological ailments.
Michigan has committed a stunning act of governmental malpractice. But why should anyone be surprised. We’ve seen this kind of thing before in matters large, small and everything in-between over the past few decades. An example in North Carolina is the years of malfeasance by government officials over tainted water aboard the largest Marine Corps installation on the East Coast, Camp Lejeune, putting military families at risk for cancers and other lethal maladies.
Now this tainted water supply will cost Michigan and the federal government for years. Flint’s families will need intensive services like nutritional programs and early childhood education to mitigate the damage.
But right now they need clean water. The state spent $10 million to hook the water back to its old source, but the corroded pipes are still leaching lead. The National Guard is going door to door, passing out bottles of water safe to drink.
This matter should set off alarm bells for governments at all levels who might wrongly think it’s smart policy to starve budgets to the point where essential services begin to break down.
States can act irresponsibly with wasteful spending, yes. But refusal to spend — even when the law requires it — can cause immeasurable harm.
Now we have another tragic example.
http://www.thetimesnews.com/opinion/20160120/editorial-lessons-we-learn-from-flint-disaster/?Start=2
January 22, 2016 at 9:39 am
Tom Hauck says:
Thank you for your editorial about Michigan officials allowing contaminated water to flow to the citizens of Flint and how the press did not do its job by publicizing the fact and warning the public, who were complaining about the smell and taste -- not knowing that they were being slowly poisoned by the lead filled water.
Your high-minded and self-serving editorial continued the press's misdeeds by not mentioning the fact that the Federal government's EPA authorities also knew about the problem and were complicit in keeping that information from the public.
January 22, 2016 at 10:30 am
Richard L Bunce says:
This editorial has this so wrong... you can tell what really happened if you look at what the city officials were saying BEFORE things went south...
Living just enough, just enough for the city...
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2014/03/flint_residents_should_be_drin.html
"This is an important day for us as we break ground on this new project in the city of Flint," said Flint Mayor Dayne Walling. "The river is an invaluable asset."
"This is a tremendous step in the process of securing Flint's water future," Walling said.
"The plant, which is used as a backup water supply to Flint and Genesee County, will go from being used four times a year to year-round."
"When Wright started working at the plant 23 years ago, he was told they would be starting the process to no longer purchase water from Detroit. And now it's happening."
"We're finally doing it. And I get to see it," Wright said.
"Sam Muma, president of AFSCME Local 1600, said it's good to see the plant being used to its full potential and for the river to be utilized to its full potential."
"In all, the upgrades and further use of the water treatment plant will be a benefit to the community, Muma said."
"This is a good thing for the community. It will provide jobs," Muma said. "Anytime you can be self-sufficient is a good thing. Doing this should eventually decrease water rates for the residents in Flint."
"The long-term goal is to have more water efficiency and more cost savings in water rates."
"The hope is to also bring school children out to the plant to have educational tours."
January 22, 2016 at 11:39 am
Bennie Lee says:
I just opened the articular, but even before I read it, I though from the time
I heard the news. With my sympathy, we the USA should NOT be bailing out
the city for very poor decisions by people obviously that should not
have been responsibility for making those decisions.
We should not, they, those persons should.
It happens all over, and here in old NC. People in positions that have a good
talk, but no understanding or knowledge of what they are involved with.
That has got to come to a stop. 50 years ago that didn't happen.
Bennie Lee
UNCC '71 BS-Engineeering
January 22, 2016 at 2:20 pm
Norm Kelly says:
'It's a troubling sign of the times in media, where too few reporters are in the field.' Actually, no. The problem isn't too few reporters in the field. The problem is too few reporters interested in reporting NEWS! The problem is too few reporters willing to accept the blowback by reporting negatively on political decisions! The problem is too many reporters concerned about spoiling a relationship between their source and themselves for future information who choose to bury existing information.
'starve budgets to the point where essential services begin to break down.' However, it's also critical that everyone, pols as well as their media allies, keep in mind that every time government spends money on non-essentials they have less money to spend on essentials. Every time some feel-good lib decides that their pet project is important enough to add to the budget, that means less money for government to spend on required services. The pot of government money IS limited. It must be spent wisely and on required services. When government crosses the line from required services to feel-good policies, with little to no concern of how it impacts future expenses, we should have citizens AND reporters screaming loudly.
Think of when Gov Bev did the wrong thing by accepting central planner dollars to implement 'high-speed' rail in NC. Done for the purpose of political allegiance NOT good business sense or logic. Temporary money to spend on a permanent expense just to please some political motivation! Where was the news media on this one? For that matter, Wake County is considering 'regional rail' right now. Where are reporters spreading news about how expensive it will be, how little it will alleviate traffic problems, how never-ending the cost will be, that when residential patterns don't match the rail the plan falls completely apart? Is this the 'news' media doing their job? Which news outlet is covering how certain pols & landowners benefit from regional rail? Remember Raleigh's ex-mayor who stood to directly benefit from regional rail, yet the claim was made that there was no conflict of interest. Which 'news' outlet beat this story to death? Which 'news' outlet is beating it to death now? When was the last negative story on the wastefulness of regional rail?
Not too few out there. Too few doing news reporting.
