I put a case to you that this is the crime of the decade.
Michael Moore is right. Flint is a crime scene. Among the victims are not only human residents and visitors but also pets and wild life. The consequences of the crimes committed against these victims over the past 22 months are far-reaching and cruel in the extreme.
These consequences are also under-reported and underestimated. If we are to comprehend the enormity of this crime, then we must understand what the consequences are.
Begin here: the health consequences of lead poisoning for all Flint victims are life-long. The effects are also life-shortening and, in acute cases, continue to worsen even after the poisoning stops because there’s too much damage to organs, blood vessels and bones to reverse the effects.
No-one who came into contact with this contaminated water by drinking it, consuming food cooked with it, bathing in it or wearing clothes washed in it, is immune from the health consequences. Lead is an equal opportunity toxin. While the symptoms of exposure vary from person to person, it afflicts everyone who comes into contact with it, the weakest and the strongest. No resident or pet in Flint is unhurt.
Lead is not visible in water. It’s a misconception that the dirtiness of the water indicates lead contaminants (probably spread by a media which relies heavily on the visible for effect). It’s an inconsequential misconception but we might as well clear it up in passing. Dirty water indicates other undesirable additives but not lead. The only upside to that awful water coloring is that it instantly alerted residents that what they were being asked to accept from their taps was unwholesome. In that they were entirely correct.
Nor is lead the only dangerous contaminant found in Flint water. High levels of mercury and e-coli bacteria have also been detected. Additionally, there’s been a spike in Legionnaires Disease and to date ten people have died. Flint water is the murder suspect.
While no area of Flint is untouched, there are differences in the amount of lead leaching out of different pipes. It should surprise no-one that the worst-affected areas are the poorest.
How much lead? Flint Water Study published their findings in a paper subtitled Flint has a very serious lead in water problem.
Forty percent (40.1%) of the first draw samples are over 5 parts per billion (ppb). That is, 101 out of 252 water samples from Flint homes had first draw lead more than 5 ppb. Even more worrisome, given that we could not target “worst case” homes with lead plumbing that are required for EPA sampling, Flint’s 90%’ile lead value is 25 ppb in our survey. This is over the EPA allowed level of 15 ppb that is applied to high risk homes. This is a serious concern indeed. Several samples exceeded 100 ppb, and one sample collected after 45 seconds of flushing exceeded 1000 ppb.
Lead in the body is distributed to the brain, liver, kidney and bones. It is stored in the teeth and bones where it accumulates over time. The severity of the damage is in direct relation to the strength of the dose and the duration of the exposure. The Flint Water Study has found dosages from double to seventy times the highest allowable level applied to high risk groups. The duration, before a state of emergency was finally announced, was closing on 22 months. The damage done is severe.
Some of the health consequences have been alluded to in previous Flint stories but here are lists compiled from leading sources:
Humans (Mayo Clinic, WHO and Healthline):
Children including babies exposed to lead before birth:
Lead is much more harmful to children than adults because it affects children's developing nerves and brains. The younger the child, the more harmful lead can be. Unborn children are the most vulnerable. There is no safe level of lead for children.
Symptoms –
- Developmental delay
- Learning difficulties
- Attention problems
- Hyperirritability
- Aggressive behavior
- Loss of appetite
- Weight loss
- Sluggishness and fatigue
- Abdominal pain
- Vomiting
- Constipation
- Hearing loss
- Ataxia (the loss of full control of bodily movements)
- Convulsions
Adults:
Although children are primarily at risk, lead poisoning is also extremely dangerous for adults.
Symptoms –
- High blood pressure
- Abdominal pain
- Constipation
- Joint pains
- Muscle pain
- Declines in mental functioning
- Pain, numbness or tingling of the extremities
- Headaches
- Anemia
- Memory loss
- Sleep problems
- Mood disorders
- Increased anxiety and depression
- Kidney dysfunction
- Reduced sperm count, abnormal sperm
- Miscarriage or premature birth in pregnant women
- Genetic disorders passed onto subsequent generations
Cats and Dogs (Petmd for cats and Petmd for dogs):
The lower the body weight, the more severe the symptoms and the greater the likelihood of fatalities. Symptoms mostly affect the gastrointestinal (GI) and central nervous systems (CNS). GI systems are seen with chronic and low-level exposure, whereas CNS symptoms are more common in acute exposure, especially in young animals. In Flint the pets, like their humans, sustained acute exposure over a long period of time.
- Symptoms –
- Vomiting
- Diarrhoea
- Lethargy
- Poor appetite
- Abdominal pain
- Regurgitation (due to megaesophagus)
- Weakness
- Hysteria (panicky and anxious)
- Blindness
- Cats - Vestibular abnormalities, including nystagmus (rolling eyes) and ataxia, as if the cat is dizzy
Information regarding the effects on wild birds and wildlife in general can be found at the USGS National Wildlife Health Center website.
The ramifications for Flint are far-reaching. An entire generation of children with special needs is emerging. Already there’s a pressing need for special education classes and teachers, but these are facilities and staff Flint does not have and cannot afford, more especially because of cuts to education. That places extra stress on students and staff. Since increased anxiety is a common symptom that both groups (plus parents) will suffer, the outlook for Flint schools is not an optimistic one.
From this generation, it’s unlikely there’ll be enough young adults with the capacity to replace those leaving the workforce. It’s more likely that the need for full disability funding and Medicare will sharply rise over the next few years. This will impact profoundly on the businesses, services and culture of Flint.
Those who perpetrated this crime are also those who covered it up. Initial health concerns were raised in April 2014 immediately after the water switch was made. In the summer of that year, the response to repeated complaints and growing concern was the issuing of three “boil water” advisories. This wasn’t just inadequate, it was negligent – neither lead nor mercury can be dispelled by boiling.
On September 24, 2015, a group of doctors led by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha of Hurley Medical Center urged Flint authorities to stop using the Flint River for water after finding high levels of lead in the blood of children. Though state regulators insisted the water was safe, five days later Gov Snyder promised to take action in response to the lead levels. This was the first time the state acknowledged that there was a problem, 18 months after the water changeover.
There followed a series of totally inadequate responses: 300 bottles of water, water filters and some limited testing by the state at Flint schools. All too little and far too late.
On January 5 this year, Gov Snyder finally got around to declaring a state of emergency in Flint coincidentally on the same day federal officials confirmed that they were investigating.
One week later a class action lawsuit was launched by Flint residents against seven defendants including Rick Snyder and the Flint emergency financial manager Darnell Earley, who is the current emergency manager for Detroit Public Schools.
My hope is that the outcome of the federal investigation and this lawsuit will see every person implicit and complicit in the decision to change Flint’s water source and to cover up the disaster for almost two years, indicted, arrested and convicted of the most serious charges possible. Nothing, no law, no political position, should stand in the way of justice for Flint.
As this tragedy plays out, the painfully deteriorating health and ruined futures of tens of thousands of residents will become overwhelming. The death toll may be difficult to track but there will be people counting each one and adding them to an ever-increasing list. The additional illnesses and loss of beloved pets will be mourned by families already hurting.
Snyder and his cast of incompetents perpetrated a monstrous crime on the inhabitants of Flint. In terms of the number of sufferers, the severity of the afflictions, the shattered lives, and the misery and sorrow thoughtlessly and callously inflicted upon their victims, they committed the crime of the decade.
Anatomy of a community poisoned: The water disaster in Flint, Michigan — a detailed chronology of the unfolding catastrophe by Denise Oliver Velez
Ways to help Flint residents during water crisis