• Water

American Jobs Plan Aims To Regain Public Trust In Safety of Drinking Water

• American Jobs Plan
• clean water
• Environmental Justice
• Flint
• lead pipes
• safe drinking water
• water

From 2018 to 2020, over 61 million people were exposed to water with more lead than is safe to drink. President Biden’s American Jobs Plan, if funded, would fix this problem by spending $45 billion to replace more than 6 million lead-pipe service lines across the country.  Infamously, in Flint, MI, thousands of children were exposed to water contaminated with lead, in one of the worst public health disasters in recent memory. 

Why this Matters:  Lead pipes predominantly impact low-income, nonwhite communities across the nation — they are a major environmental justice flashpoint.

• Water

Lead Pipes Continue to Plague Millions, Especially in Black Communities

• clean water
• Flint
• lead
• lead pipes
• lead poisoning

by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer Despite a century of knowledge on the dangers of lead poisoning, dozens of studies showing the impacts of lead on children’s development, and high-profile humanitarian disasters like the 2014 Flint Water Crisis, millions of Americans are still being exposed to lead in their drinking water. What’s worse: new studies […]

• Water

Former Michigan Governor Charged in Flint Water Crisis

• en
• Flint
• Flint Water Crisis
• Michigan

by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer Yesterday, former Michigan governor, Rick Snyder, was criminally charged in connection to the 2014 Flint water crisis that led to 12 deaths, dozens of illnesses, and left hundreds of residents of the predominantly Black city without drinkable water. Several Michigan government officials have been criminally charged since then, including […]

• Water

Drinking Water Woes Continue In Michigan and California

• brain damage
• clean water
• drinking water
• Flint
• Forever Chemicals
• lead pipes
• PFAS

This week the vulnerabilities in the nation’s drinking water supplies once again came into full view.  In California, a study for the state’s water resources control board revealed that 60% of California’s public water supply wells contain toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals.  Meanwhile, citizens in Flint, Michigan filed a lawsuit on behalf of 2,600 children claiming that three big banks that were funding a pipeline project caused the city to rely on the Flint River as a temporary water source.

• Water

Houston Suburb Under Boil Water Order After Tragic Death of Young Boy

• clean water
• contamination
• Flint
• fresh water
• Michigan
• safe drinking water
• Texas
• toxins

Lake Jackson, Texas, a city in the greater Houston area, is “purg[ing] its water system for 60 days” after a brain-eating amoeba killed a 6-year old boy, NBC News reported. The city is currently under a boil-water notice, and officials have announced that it could take as long as 3 months to make the water safe. 

Why This Matters: There is little data on the risk of this amoeba, says the CDC.  More information is needed on how “a standard might be set to protect human health and how public health officials would measure and enforce such a standard.”

• Water

Chicago Announces Plan to Replace Lead Pipes, Michigan to Pay $600M To Flint Victims

• Chicago
• Flint
• Flint Water Crisis
• lead pipes
• lead poisoning
• safe drinking water
• science

The New York Times late last night broke the story that the State of Michigan has agreed to pay close to $600 million to victims of the Flint water crisis, in a settlement that will be announced later this week.

Why This Matters:  Children with elevated levels of lead in their blood are more likely to have learning disabilities and increased behavioral difficulties — it causes irreversible damage to children’s development, according to the report.  Lead is unsafe at any level. It’s time to get the lead out of our environment.