The Importance Of Clean Water In Flint

Words: 1814
Pages: 8

Its Water Not Iced Tea
Have you ever been scared to turn on the water faucet in your home? It’s frightening knowing that simple tasks like cooking, showering or even drinking a glass of tap water could potentially cause harm to the health of your loved ones. This is how the residents of Flint Michigan felt in 2014 when it was discovered that the water in Flint was unsafe because it was contaminated by lead. Flint changed its water source in an attempt to, “Stop piping expensive drinking water from Detroit and instead draw water from the Flint River” (Simmons). My goal is to demonstrate that the state of Michigan under the care of Gov. Snyder failed to protect the citizens of Flint when their pleas for clean water were discredited time and time
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Gov. Snyder has been at the center of the frenzy that has engulfed this city in the last two years. But what some of the residents do not realize is the Gov. Snyder was not the sole person responsible for what has taken place in Flint. Gov. Snyder did offer a sincere apology saying, “No citizen of this great state should endure this kind of catastrophe. Government failed you- federal, state, and local leaders—by breaking the trust you place in us” (Bosman, Smith). He is saying that both he and the state of Michigan have failed to protect the citizens of Flint. What Gov. Snyder is saying is important because we have to realize that the blame for what has happened cannot be placed on one man alone. Gov. Snyder is acknowledging the fact that federal, state and local leaders in his administration failed to identify the presence of lead in Flints drinking water. It is important to note that Gov. Snyder is taking action in Flint by providing clean bottled water and health care for Flint …show more content…
That was until I saw the cover of Time magazine with the headline, “The poisoning of an American city” in big bold words and a picture of a child with rashes on his face. That’s when the weight of the situation hit me and the questions started rolling through my head. Like how can citizens in an American city not have access to clean water? Something so simple yet so fundamental to our everyday life, we use water for so many different things I couldn’t imagine not having access to clean water. Yet that was the dilemma the residents of Flint were facing because their drinking water had been contaminated by lead which in turn caused health risks especially in young children. I believe that the state of Michigan under the care of Governor Rick Snyder failed to protect the good people of Flint by letting them consume unsafe drinking water for at least a year before they were able to provide a long term