I first knew about Flint's water problem - or water tragedy rather - from Michael Moore, who helped drum up the issue up to the point of mobilizing mass action. Moore was born and raised in Flint, Michigan and it's not really a surprising that this controversial documentary director paid close attention to the crisis.
According to him, Republican governor Rick Snyder relieved the mayor and city council from their responsibilities and assigned people to instead manage the city. In order to save money, Snyder's office transferred the water source of the people from Lake Huron to Flint River, which later on was found to have highly toxic water. The grave part is, when the governor's office learned of the water's extreme toxicity, they kept mum about it while people continued to use the water for daily use - bathing, washing clothes, cleaning, cooking and drinking. The damage was done.
Moore called it an "ethnic cleansing", citing that it's a city with a predominantly African American population and with more than 40 percent of people living below the poverty level.
And now with Flint's water tragedy out in the limelight, other communities have also voiced out concerns regarding their own water sources.
When people protested radioactive pollution as a result of mining in the water source of Native Indian communities in the north, it seemed that only a few took notice. It was even reported that the level of contamination was higher in these areas and people were also enduring it longer. But no one seemed to take heed about the needs a minority that only accounts for 2% of the population of America in 2014.
Then there's also the water problem of Alaskan communities. If you need any kind of information on this article related topic click here: Utilities Management
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