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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

#161

Post by yawgmoth »

flubert wrote: post #104
ionforce wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Aren't places like Flint and Detroit pretty much poster children of progressive thought? I think anti-liberal people use them as case studies to attract converts, as in, look what you get if you have one-party Democratic rule for 50 years and strong unions, and other progressive notions.

No way - those cities are a great example of the conservative, blue collar Democrat. Guns and unions!

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

#162

Post by eric_cc »

Lawtonfogle wrote: post #111
andrelaszlo wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wanted to see what Flint looks like, so I dropped the little yellow streetview guy randomly. I ended up on Asylum Street (!). I'm at a loss for words: https://goo.gl/maps/UuPPKQK5MoF2 https://goo.gl/maps/KunFSxxRFWA2 https://goo.gl/maps/yg1NH6ZMkFJ2 https://goo.gl/maps/xVi2n8muHV32 https://goo.gl/maps/pAQEyZSAEw92 https://goo.gl/maps/ssGZRAdiQak (memorial garden?) https://goo.gl/maps/B2waNiVfeut https://goo.gl/maps…

>I'm at a loss for words: Why are you are a loss for words? This doesn't look significantly different from the town I grew up in (well near). I feel like I'm missing something.

He is at a loss of words. He is not speaking on behalf of You.

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

#163

Post by andyl »

Born and raised in Saginaw. The differences between black and white cultures in Saginaw were so vast - like two different nations living in the same town. Things fell apart, the center could not hold.

Others have noted: west Michigan is not as bad. I think the success of Michigan cities is highly correlated with racial demographics - white towns doing OK, black towns not so much.

Makes me wonder how Germany will absorb it's new influx. Funny enough Saginaw was settled by Germans, and white Saginaw was IMHO very culturally similar to the real Germany.

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

#164

Post by Kristine1975 »

maxsilver wrote: post #143
Kristine1975 wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>There's no environmental protections or regulations of any meaningful kind, So it's either "have no money and get poisoned by lead in the water pipes" or "have money and get poisoned by the pollution of the factories?"

I agree completely. I don't defend it in any way -- it's terrible. But that's what most people mean/imply when they say Flint is "set up for manufacturing".

I didn't mean to imply you defended it. Sorry that I wasn't clear enough.

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

#165

Post by maxerickson »

nashashmi wrote: post #78

I just took a look at the Map of Michigan. I realized after zooming into Flint to try to understand where the water was coming from that Michigan has many, many bodies of water scattered all around the place. Plus they are right next to the world's biggest lakes. And yet they never took care of their water supply? The one state with so much fresh water has little regulation on keeping water protected. I keep wonderin…

They are constructing a supply that will tap Lake Huron.

Lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron are not especially polluted. The little inland lakes vary, but they end up having a lot of trouble with residential inputs (fertilizer runoff and (historically) sewage).

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

#166

Post by analyst74 »

Lawtonfogle wrote: post #111
andrelaszlo wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wanted to see what Flint looks like, so I dropped the little yellow streetview guy randomly. I ended up on Asylum Street (!). I'm at a loss for words: https://goo.gl/maps/UuPPKQK5MoF2 https://goo.gl/maps/KunFSxxRFWA2 https://goo.gl/maps/yg1NH6ZMkFJ2 https://goo.gl/maps/xVi2n8muHV32 https://goo.gl/maps/pAQEyZSAEw92 https://goo.gl/maps/ssGZRAdiQak (memorial garden?) https://goo.gl/maps/B2waNiVfeut https://goo.gl/maps…

>I'm at a loss for words: Why are you are a loss for words? This doesn't look significantly different from the town I grew up in (well near). I feel like I'm missing something.

Despite US's overall economical and military dominance, the poor parts of US is really bad. Especially to people from other first-world countries who thought US is similar to their own country.

For the Americans who have not traveled abroad, countries in northern Europe, Canada/Australia generally do not have the level of poverty some parts of US suffers.

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

#167

Post by Tossrock »

russdill wrote: post #40
russdill wrote: post #33

The one thing I don't see is the lead levels of the water supply. Doesn't the EPA have limits on that and isn't it an easy thing to test? It is true that different water supplies will have different levels of contaminants (lead, arsenic, etc) but can all be within EPA limits. Switching to a water supply with a higher level of contamination will increase exposure. The medical study seems to look at the percentage of c…

Hmm...reading further the problem doesn't seem to be one handled well by EPA standards. The new water supply is more corrosive than the old water supply, so in poorer neighborhoods with lead piping, more lead (sometimes significantly) is being leeched from the pipes than before.

Why are they using lead pipes? I understand that they may have a legacy system put in place before the dangers of lead were fully understood, but when your water distribution system is literally made of poison, I don't understand how replacing it could be back-burnered.

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

#168

Post by tptacek »

humanrebar wrote: post #157
tptacek wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The country will pick up the tab for Flint, because that is how the country works. The expectation that Michigan and then the federal government will provide assistance isn't something Flint invented: it's part of the deal. Not enough money flows to places like Flint. Michigan just barely ekes out a return on dollars remitted to the IRS; they're in the bottom quartile of benecifiaries. Meanwhile, for every $1 a Flori…

Yeah, we should build some naval bases in Flint, MI to even things out.

The $1/$4.50 figure isn't due to military spending, for what it's worth.

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

#169

Post by munificent »

kbenson wrote: post #127
scott_karana wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In https://goo.gl/maps/pAQEyZSAEw92 , the first one I clicked, there is decay and overgrowth everywhere. The death of the city's economy is completely evident in that view alone...

Because a building burned down? It would be nice if they fenced it off, so it shows a lack of resources, but I'm not sure that view really indicates what you say it does.

Not just that it burned down. Note that there are weeds growing up the side of the charred wall. It burned down and then nothing was done about it for months.

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

#170

Post by ap3 »

andrelaszlo wrote: post #77
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…

I wanted to see what Flint looks like, so I dropped the little yellow streetview guy randomly. I ended up on Asylum Street (!). I'm at a loss for words: https://goo.gl/maps/UuPPKQK5MoF2 https://goo.gl/maps/KunFSxxRFWA2 https://goo.gl/maps/yg1NH6ZMkFJ2 https://goo.gl/maps/xVi2n8muHV32 https://goo.gl/maps/pAQEyZSAEw92 https://goo.gl/maps/ssGZRAdiQak (memorial garden?) https://goo.gl/maps/B2waNiVfeut https://goo.gl/maps…

I don't get it - what is so bad about that street?
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