Friday, January 08, 2016

To the poor Flint River


9 comments:

Jerry House said...

But (to my knowledge) the Charles never had high levels of lead, but it did at one time contain 75% of the state's typhoid. And as one whose leg slipped into that river by accident in the Sixties, I can attest that the Charles was not made of ordinary water, but of some viscous substance that only got thicker the deeper you went.

The people of Flint have received the short end of the stick for far too long. My sympathies go out to them. The state of the Flint River and that of many of the other rivers throughout America are a national disgrace.

pattinase (abbott) said...

It is too bad that those who call themselves conservative do not conserve our greatest treasures but only their own money.

Deb said...

"Conservative" is a misnomer: "radical reactionary" is more appropriate. (Yes, Deb's on the old soapbox again! Apologies.)

One thing we should all take note of: what's happening in Flint is a microcosm of what can happen anywhere when the idea of infrastructure support and maintenance, or abiding by safety and health regulations, are pushed aside by those who claim it's nothing more than burdensome regulation and bureaucratic red tape. Yes, we'll evade a few environmental regulations--and live with thousands of children having lead poisoning! Are we just moving backwards on everything?

/Dismounting soapbox now.

Anonymous said...

I've been hearing about this story; it's terrible - just terrible!

George said...

What happens in Flint is probably happening elsewhere. Our infrastructure is crumbling while people rush out to buy POWERBALL tickets where they have a 300 million to 1 chance of winning.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Except Flint had access to perfectly safe drinking water from Detroit. But the emergency manager decided to save some money and put the hose in the Flint River. This state is now run by the dumbest people that have ever held elected office.

Charles Gramlich said...

If we don't conserve our natural world we'll have nothing.

Rick Robinson said...

Patti, your comment "This state is now run by the dumbest people that have ever held elected office." will apply to the entire country if the GOP wins the November election.

In Oregon, there is a lot of care taken and it's still difficult. For instance we do not use salt on the roads here, as it will wash into the streams and rivers and kill the aquatic life (sand is used instead). The Flint River mess is man made, but no one wants to stand up and take responsibility - and pay the price - for cleanup.

By the way, I always have liked that song.

pattinase (abbott) said...

The thing is-they had safe drinking water and did this to save money. It's way beyond the state of the river. It's the state of our thinking that poor black people don't deserve safe water. If I could move to Canada....