{"id":18881,"date":"2016-01-10T01:41:27","date_gmt":"2016-01-10T09:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=18881"},"modified":"2016-01-10T01:47:13","modified_gmt":"2016-01-10T09:47:13","slug":"flints-dirty-little-secret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/10\/flints-dirty-little-secret\/","title":{"rendered":"Flint’s Dirty Little Secret"},"content":{"rendered":"

How many times each day do we go to the water tap, run cold water, fill a glass, and then quench our thirst?  I drink about 4 litres of water every day, about 16 cups.  Do I even think about whether the water is fit to drink?  Not usually. But what happens when the water becomes unfit to drink , , , like in Flint, Michigan?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Flintwater\"<\/p>\n

Democracy Now<\/strong><\/span><\/a> — In Flint, Michigan, a growing number of residents are demanding the arrest of Governor Rick Snyder over the ongoing water contamination crisis. Snyder declared a state of emergency for Flint Wednesday, after learning federal prosecutors had opened an investigation<\/em><\/u> into lead contamination in the drinking water. <\/strong>The poisoning began after an unelected emergency manager appointed by Governor Snyder switched the city’s water source to the long-polluted Flint River in a bid to save money. Lead can cause permanent health impacts including memory loss and developmental impairment. Researchers at Virginia Tech who have been testing Flint water say the city could have corrected the problem by better treating the water at a cost of as little as $100 a day. On Thursday, the mayor of Flint revealed it could now cost as much as $1.5 billion to fix the city’s water infrastructure. We speak to Curt Guyette, investigative reporter for the ACLU of Michigan, who has closely covered the story.<\/p>\n

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