Did Flint's water become poisoned because of political favors to frackers?

Roughly 10,000 kids have been exposed to elevated levels of lead in the Flint, Michigan drinking water over the past one and a half years. The cost of addressing the problem has been estimated at $100 million to $1.5 billion.

How did this happen? Why was Flint's water supply switched from a good source to an acidic source that corroded the pipes and leached lead into the drinking water?

Steve Neavling in the Motor City Muckraker writes:

“The Flint water crisis that led to thousands of people being poisoned began because state officials maintained it would save the cash-strapped city money by disconnecting from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) and using a different source. But it turns out, DWSD offered the state-controlled city a deal that would have saved Flint more money by staying with Detroit.

… The offer by DWSD raises serious questions about whether Gov. Rick Snyder was lying when he insisted the water switch was motivated by saving money for Flint, which was under the control of a state emergency manager.

…Now it seems clear why Snyder wouldn’t release the e-mails [from 2013]: They would have revealed that the switch was not about saving money. So what was it about? Some have suggested that Snyder was motivated by a desire to break up DWSD and ultimately privatize it. … Others have suggested that Snyder wanted to start fracking operations along a new pipeline.” http://motorcitymuckraker.com/2016/01/23/gov-snyder-lied-flint-wate...

Regarding fracking in Michigan, Mark Maynard speculates:

“Would it surprise you to learn that the children of Flint were ultimately poisoned because Snyder’s donors demanded that a pipeline be built to service their fracking operations?" http://markmaynard.com/2016/01/could-the-flint-water-crisis-have-its-origins-in-a-desire-to-increase-fracking-in-michigan/

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Permalink Reply by Paul Heckbert on February 22, 2016 at 6:01am

From a story in the Detroit Metro Times:

" "[The future pipeline to supply water to Flint] opens this whole region up to the blue economy," County board Chairman Jamie Curtis told Fonger, who then wrote that Curtis was "referring to the potential for job creation by companies that require large volumes of clean, untreated fresh water."


We don't know too much about companies that "require large volumes of clean, untreated fresh water," so we decided to do some googling. You know what came up? A lot of articles about fracking ..."

http://www.metrotimes.com/Blogs/archives/2016/02/13/emails-reveal-f...

Permalink Reply by Barry D on February 22, 2016 at 7:07am

Hey! Chicken Little,

So what!

None of this has nothing to do with why there is tainted water in Flint.

Just your lame attempt to demonize the oil and gas industry.

The Sky Is Falling!  The Sky Is Falling!

Permalink Reply by paleface on February 22, 2016 at 9:17am

 Barry he definitely went to school in a small yellow bus.

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