The worst sense of security is a false one. It’s hard for people to wrap their heads around the idea that those in charge – federal, state and local agencies – might be cheating the system. But, all too often, that is exactly what happens.
The Guardian has found that 33 cities east of the Mississippi river used water testing methods that the EPA has said underestimate how much lead is present. And in two states, water departments were encouraged to test water early – so that if they received bad results they could re-sample.
Transparency is sorely lacking in the system. Information in municipal water reports often gets changed or redacted because people have an “oh shit” moment. Water utility managers fear they might lose their job if levels come back too high. Sometimes they are motivated by greed and ineptitude. Other times, their actions are simply the result of working for agencies that are over-burdened and under-staffed.
Flint woke us all up to the fact that we were being cheated. We all suddenly thought – are agencies hiding the truth from us? Well, I’m sorry. That’s not news. Its been happening for a long, long time.
Contaminated water is not a problem limited to Flint. Think of New Jersey, where school fountains were found to contain unsafe levels of lead. Or the EPA’s 33,000 superfund sites, which are highly-polluted areas that require long-term clean-up operations. The problem is so large that it feels insurmountable.
Part of the difficulty is creaky, out-dated practises and thinking among regulators. It can take the EPA 10, 15, even 20 years to study the safety of chemicals and come up with a so-called maximum containment limit – the most we can safely be exposed to.
When I discovered that hexavalent chromium was causing cancer in the town of Hinkley, California, it lead to residents being paid $333m in compensation. But, unbelievably, that chemical remains in our drinking water.
People have had enough of business as usual. Just look at this election. Countless Americans are calling out the government for its secrecy and repeated failures. They are frustrated with the status quo and are mobilizing on social media to bring about change.
Things will only improve when the people – all of us – say to authorities: I will hold you responsible. We should all be showing up at city council meetings, lighting up every community with activism and mobilization.
We should not jeopardize the health of future generations because government agencies have mismanaged their funds and want to cut corners. We have to accept that superman is not coming to rescue us – we have to act ourselves.
It is deeply ironic that water, which sustains life, now takes lives away. It needn’t be this way. This cheating is only going to stop when all of us speak up, speak out and are proactive. In Hinkley, I watched people rise up against a massive utility company and win. We can do that again. It’s about your health, your family’s health – and your right to have safe water. We can’t let history repeat itself. We need change now.
