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Flint, MI: So much lead in children’s blood, state of emergency declared

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Flint, MI: So much lead in children’s blood, state of emergency declared

#41

Post by SideburnsOfDoom »

anon1385 wrote: post #27
EliRivers wrote: post #6

I particularly like the comments to that article stating that only "liberals" believe the water supply is heaving with lead. The ridiculous political bun-fight infects everything, it seems. It's a mental disease.

The toxicity of lead is actually a longstanding political argument in the US. Lobbying against lead regulation was one of the original motivations for the development of modern american libertarianism. Even fairly recently libertarian organisations like the Cato Institute have been fighting against regulation of lead and against compensation for those poisoned. When the topic of lead comes up on HN you often get comm…

> Even fairly recently libertarian organisations like the Cato Institute have been fighting against regulation of lead and against compensation for those poisoned.

That's shocking and tragically sad.

Re: Flint, MI: So much lead in children’s blood, state of emergency declared

#43

Post by pionar »

scott_s wrote: post #11
DanBC wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article also fails to explain what kind of safety checks are normally done on US drinking water, and why those tests failed in Flint.

I suspect none of that is explained yet because it is not yet known. Formally declaring "this is an emergency" is the first step in getting outside help, but I also imagine it's the first necessary step for starting an investigation into why it happened.

They know why it happened. That was the first step. They failed to put an anti-corrosive agent in the water, and it released lead from old pipes into the water supply.

Re: Flint, MI: So much lead in children’s blood, state of emergency declared

#44

Post by rayiner »

foolrush wrote: post #35
rayiner wrote: post #24

What led to this particular situation was apparently rate hikes in the Detroit water system, which caused Flint to switch to using the Flint river as their water source last year. Beyond that, water systems all over the country are in bad shape. Because water rates are subject to public control, they are far too low and there is a huge under-investment in water systems: http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/a/#p/dr…

Subtly attempts to frame the issue as public controlled water. A counterpoint might be that the companies with a vested interest in privitising water supplies have lobbied to choke out the public systems of funding. Perhaps instead of cutting deplorable tax breaks for big business, it would be more prudent to augment the public funds to prevent your citizens from getting lead poisoning? http://www.theguardian.com/glo…

What big businesses are you talking about? Water in almost every U.S. city is provided by a municipal utility. E.g. in Flint, it's the Utilities Department: https://www.cityofflint.com/public-works/water-service-cente.... Water rates are set by the city, and are just too low to cover modernization of the systems. Both the ASCE and the EPA have reported that investment in water systems is a fraction of what is required: http://geospatial.blogs.com/geospatial/2011/12/asce-report-o....

Re: Flint, MI: So much lead in children’s blood, state of emergency declared

#45

Post by fixermark »

ionforce wrote: post #16
EliRivers wrote: post #6

I particularly like the comments to that article stating that only "liberals" believe the water supply is heaving with lead. The ridiculous political bun-fight infects everything, it seems. It's a mental disease.

I'm curious what excuse the anti-liberals come up with once their children are diagnosed with lead.

They won't have to; they don't live in Flint.

Flint is the 10th most liberal city in America by election results, according to https://alt.coxnewsweb.com/statesman/metro/081205libs.pdf.

Re: Flint, MI: So much lead in children’s blood, state of emergency declared

#46

Post by forrestthewoods »

rickdale wrote: post #39

I'm glad to see this on HN. Flint is often a forgot about place in the world. I grew up there and now live outside of Flint. My dad was murdered there. But I always think Flint is prime for opportunity. The people need basic essentials, water, food, shelter. But the infrastructure to build factories is there. Power, train lines, the whole deal. It's really a shame. The sad part is, the people are still hell bent on s…

Really? I was just thinking the other day that I hear about Flint, Michigan all the time. Relatively speaking at least. It's not even in the top 300 for city size yet I hear about it relatively often. Certainly more than Las Cruces, New Mexico.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_b...

Re: Flint, MI: So much lead in children’s blood, state of emergency declared

#47

Post by untothebreach »

rickdale wrote: post #39

I'm glad to see this on HN. Flint is often a forgot about place in the world. I grew up there and now live outside of Flint. My dad was murdered there. But I always think Flint is prime for opportunity. The people need basic essentials, water, food, shelter. But the infrastructure to build factories is there. Power, train lines, the whole deal. It's really a shame. The sad part is, the people are still hell bent on s…

Also grew up there and live just outside of it. My favorite Flint River joke I heard when I was young, was that you didn't need to wade across it, you walked across the dead bodies.

Dark, but when you're a kid, funny enough.

Re: Flint, MI: So much lead in children’s blood, state of emergency declared

#48

Post by vezzy-fnord »

rickdale wrote: post #39

I'm glad to see this on HN. Flint is often a forgot about place in the world. I grew up there and now live outside of Flint. My dad was murdered there. But I always think Flint is prime for opportunity. The people need basic essentials, water, food, shelter. But the infrastructure to build factories is there. Power, train lines, the whole deal. It's really a shame. The sad part is, the people are still hell bent on s…

Flint is often a forgot about place in the world.

Not since Michael Moore immortalized it. I wouldn't be surprised if many people upvoting this story were making an association with Roger & Me.

Re: Flint, MI: So much lead in children’s blood, state of emergency declared

#49

Post by fixermark »

rayiner wrote: post #24

What led to this particular situation was apparently rate hikes in the Detroit water system, which caused Flint to switch to using the Flint river as their water source last year. Beyond that, water systems all over the country are in bad shape. Because water rates are subject to public control, they are far too low and there is a huge under-investment in water systems: http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/a/#p/dr…

Are those the same rate hikes that triggered such a rebellion in the Detroit metropolitan area that people started filling the water shutoff valves with concrete instead of paying their water bills?

Damage from Detroit's economic implosion keeps rolling downhill.

Re: Flint, MI: So much lead in children’s blood, state of emergency declared

#50

Post by ekianjo »

darkr wrote: post #15
alexbock wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Distillation would essentially be doing the reverse, "boiling the water out of the lead", and that would work. But no amount of boiling in a open pot is going to remove lead from your water. It's hard to tell from the article, but the reference to boiling water might have been in response to the other issue mentioned, trihalomethanes in the water. As dissolved gases, boiling should help drive them out. (side note: a…

Yup. Distillation should remove any heavy metal elements. It's not ideal to consume long term, as it removes most useful minerals and results in a hydrogen-heavy/acidic water, but it's certainly far better than consuming lead.

> hydrogen-heavy/acidic water, but it's certainly far better than consuming lead.

Yeah, but why would a water with slightly acidic pH be a major problem for health anyway? Numerous mineral waters sold on the market at not at pH 7 in the first place.

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