After letting the residents of Flint, Michigan languish without access to clean, convenient water for well over two years, the Senate has finally passed a bill which would fund the replacement of the city’s lead-tainted pipes.
The bill will grant $170 million to Flint in order to aid with the replacement of corroded pipes previously used to supply water to the city.
This comes as a massive relief to the residents of Flint who saw their water supply tainted with deadly, developmentally-crippling lead for years. It was nearly two years before news of the lead poisoning reached the national stage, and though national outcry demanded action, the only thing the state did was begin providing bottled water and faulty filters to residents.
Now that the funding will come through, the state of Michigan will have no choice but to devote the time and resources to replacing the city’s corroded pipes. A federal mandate will no doubt be required as Michigan officials have fought the government every step of the way. Most recently, Michigan state government fought a mandate which would have required them to deliver water to each household, an additional step that they found unnecessary and expensive.
After all the residents of Flint have been through, and the damage the lead poisoning will cause for generation, you’d think clean delivered water was the least they could do.
Though the bill is so late in coming, at least it will provide clean water for the residents once construction is complete. But of course, the government cannot clean up one environmental mess without creating another.
Per Democracy Now:
“Meanwhile, environmentalists are warning of a provision of the bill which rolls back protections to California’s Bay-Delta Estuary. Environmentalists say the changes threaten delicate ecosystems and undermine the Endangered Species Act.”
On to the next one…
