James Tang ’18: President Barack Obama declared the city of Flint Michigan to be in a federal state of emergency on January 5th, 2016. Since April of 2014, when the city changed its water supply from the Detroit Water and Sewage Department system to the Flint River, roughly one hundred thousand people, including six to twelve thousand children have been exposed to extremely high levels of lead contaminated water. A total of ten people are reported to have been killed and another seventy-seven injured as a direct result of this switch.
Middle and Upper School Nurse, Anne Ravreby, explains, “There is nothing good about lead. It can cause a variety of health concerns regardless of the exposure pathway, especially in young children.” She continues by saying, “You’re seeing all types of neurological diseases. ADHD, lowered IQ’s, and other nastier things can all be attributed to lead poisoning.”
The switch itself was based on a decision to save money. In late April of 2014, in accordance to a plan that would save the city 5 million dollars, a 7 to 1 vote was passed to change the city’s supply from the Lake Huron water from Detroit, as it had done for the past 50 years, to treating water directly from the Flint River.
Head Chaplain, as well as Ethics teacher, Reverend James Squire, explains, “As I say so often in this class, wherever you have money, you have ethics. What you have here is a microcosm of a social ethical dilemma that has not been handled well. The majority of the population in Flint is comprised of minority people, many of whom live in poverty.”
The situation in Flint has generated a country wide outcry that has since sparked a series of federal investigations by the US Attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Michigan, the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the FBI. Many have also demanded the resignation of Michigan Governor, Rick Snyder.
However, when asked about the likelihood of a catastrophic event comparable to this happening here in Newtown Square, most share little to no concern.
“Do I think the situation in Flint could happen in Newtown Square? No,” states Squire. “I just can’t see this happening in a middle class or affluent community such as ours.”
George Sharetts, Director of Public Works in the Newtown Township, adds, “AQUA Pennsylvania handles all aspects of water in this area.” He continues, saying, “I know through experience here that AQUA does a significant amount of infrastructure maintenance, repair and replacement work. Our systems which run through the Newtown Township are in very good shape as a result of careful planning and investment on their part.”
Head of Upper School, Delvin Dinkins, shares his thoughts, saying, “I suppose anything is possible but I really don’t think a situation like this could arise. For a host of reasons, compared to Flint, our infrastructure just isn’t as compromised not only in terms of the environmental aspects of piping and wells, but also politically and economically, we are much more stable.”
The public response around the the country to Flint been tremendous. Millions of cases of water have been donated by helping individuals, local church groups, major corporations, and many more, but there is still much work to be done.