Don't wade in this water, children
When government officials
insisted that Flint River water was
safe, local resident Alissa Knox
didn’t buy it.
“I didn’t ever drink it, once they
made the switch,” says Knox. “I
wasn’t drinking water that was a
different color . . . . I took bottles
of water to my sister immediately
and told her not to let her kids
drink it either.”
And she isn’t convinced it’s safe
now that the city has switched
back to piping water from Lake
Huron. Even her dog won’t drink
it.
Employed at E-Z Laundry near
Vermont Christian Church, she
guards the water fountain near her
desk to make sure no one drinks
from it. She posted a warning sign.
But in case people can’t or don’t
read, she also taped over the tap.
“Now that they have switched
back to Detroit water, they tell
us it’s safe to bathe and do laundry,” she says. Judging from the
clientele at the laundry, a number
of folks are taking the risk. “But,
when people come in here and
ask me, ‘Is this water safe?’ I say,
‘No,’” Knox says. “Our water is
not safe.”
It’s out of necessity rather than
trust that Cordellia Collier takes
her chances with the water at the
laundry facilities.
“Right after they switched (to
the Flint River), the skin on my
hands and feet peeled right off,”
she said. Her doctor prescribed
lotions and drops, but nothing
worked. When the warnings came
about the water, she stopped
bathing in it. Her skin cleared up.
Meanwhile, Collier swaps her
wet laundry into a dryer. Her
hands turn red; as they dry, they
take on a chalky appearance.
“See what I mean?” she says. “It
used to be a lot worse. That’s why
I still wash my undergarments only
in bottled water.”
As Federal Emergency Management Assistance (FEMA) officials
finalize their work in Flint, it is not
clear how much longer the free
bottled water will be distributed.
But as long as it’s available, Collier,
who has no car, must take her roller bag suitcase to the distribution
center, fill it with bottled water,
and then drag it back to her house
in order to insure that the water
she is using is safe.
office, “to bring issues of unsafe water
… to light.”
But the tragedy is even more sinister
than environmental racism, according
to class action lawsuits being filed in
Flint. The lawsuits include charges of
gross negligence, intentional misconduct, fraud, and civil rights violations.
Vermont Christian Church member
Trachelle Young is part of the attorney
group, which has the support of wellknown environmental activist Erin
Brockovich and a group of law firms
with experience in fighting for the
rights of people harmed by polluted
and dangerous water. They aim to see
that justice is served and their clients
are compensated for their losses. Elder
Bruce Jones, who conducts the choir
at the church, is clear that no amount
of money can replace what has been
lost in this situation. But after the last
two years, “it sure feels good to have
someone on our side,” he said. Beyond the class action suits, Michigan
Attorney General Bill Schuette filed
criminal charges in late April against
three individuals, vowing it wa