The water crisis in Flint is really a water crisis across the nation.
One-in-five of Los Angeles water pipes was installed before 1931.
The Flint water crisis is something of an enigma. The fact of the matter is that Flint, Michigan is a possibly for every city in this nation.
As a nation we have ignored time and time again our aging infrastructure.
I am not saying that Flint is deserving by any means, but did we, as a nation, know this was coming. “You ‘betcha.’”
We literally have bridges collapsing under us in this nation. We must hear these thundering collapses of metal and concrete as a wake-up-call.
Bridges are really easy to see. A bridge, a sidewalk, a road, we use these everyday. We see cracks, we see rust, we see decay; I am scared to think of what we can’t see.
We can’t see our water pipes. We can’t see our sewer systems.
We are talking about a part of our infrastructure that we depend on, and we trust with our lives.
We obviously don’t want feces in our water, which could kill us. Secondly we probably would be happy without lead in our water, which again, could kill us.
Blind to this issue we are though. You will not live to see a Presidential Candidate use infrastructure as their campaign slogan. No more, “Jeb!” No more “Hope.”
Why not “Safe Drinking Water,” why not “Bridges up to safety codes.” Because no matter where your political affiliation is, nothing has seemed to change.
Flint is in a hole right now. At this moment this city is among the poorest in the nation.
Not only are 41 percent of Flint’s inhabitants living under the poverty line, but they also live in a city, in the developed world, with poisonous water to drink and bathe in.
This is injustice. This is inhuman. This is a tragedy.
And Los Angeles? The city is looking at having to spend over $1 billion on fixing their water system.
Not only is LA looking to have to fix all of this within the next ten years, but also they are going to have to double the amount of pipe they replace annually, and triple the annual amount spent on replacing pipes.
Our water crisis in Flint is really a water crisis across this nation.
Forget all of the mumbo-jumbo of the presidential campaigns. Talk is nothing. We need to do something about this. We need actual progress here.
For a comparison, think of a Navy F-35C; the price tag is $337,000,000.
That means that if we were to forget about money, and use Navy F-35Cs as currency, it would take about three and a half to pay to fix LA’s entire water crisis.
Think about how many Navy F-35Cs it would take to fix Flint.
We have ignored this long enough; we the taxpayers want safe drinking water; we want safe bridges. Our infrastructure is important. Enough is enough.
Future generations depend on us making the right decision. This is the time we make that decision.
In our nation, there are a slew of issues that clearly are of concern or a crisis. I am very happy to see that more current events are being addressed in our community.
At the same time, I wish articles of this stature were presented as less of a rant and with a new point of view. It is clear, for a reader, to read this article and understand that there isn’t clean drinking water in Flint – sparking reactions of sadness, anger, or concern.
The article above is providing some information to the issue, but then takes a volatile turn, jumping into issues with bridges and the entire infrastructure of the country. Comparing apples and oranges does make this article any stronger. The focus of this article is a water crisis. The US is not crumbling to bits.
Next, Los Angeles… Their waterlines are nearing the end of their lifetime and need to be replaced. Yes, it will cost money and a lot of it. A whooping 1 billion dollars, but the city is taking the proper procedures to ensure clean and safe water for their people. Isn’t this what you would have preferred over what is happening in Flint? Replacing an entire city’s waterline especially of LA’s size, is and always will take money. If the city waits, the price tag will only increase. Please also note that LA has been evaluating and taking control of their water, where Flint was notified of the water and no action was taken.
Look around us. It will be noted that the local water quality has been taking strides. Minnesota Governor, Mark Dayton announced this month of a new 220 million dollar plan to help protect the state’s water quality. Also, North Dakota communities have clean drinking water and the proper treatment plants, which are evaluated regularly.
To tie a bow on it, when it comes to issues that are larger than us, it is easy to jump to a stand point of who to blame. The Government. At the same time, blaming will not help Flint. The damage is clearly done and those responsible have resigned or were fired. What will help Flint is for the discussion to be changed. Talk about what is being done, educate readers of what they can do to prevent harmful water coming through their faucets, engage in local research being done at NDSU for water quality, and what we [the community] can do to help. Inspire readers to think and learn, not to point their finger at their computer, TV screen, phone, or broadsheet newspaper, because that is where the communication stops.