ATH 101 Final Project Part B Milestone One: Flint’s Deadly Water
I've picked "Flint's Deadly Water" as my crisis scenario. Due to my past awareness of the issue, I
made the decision to write about this specific predicament. Because I know a few locals, I've
been hearing about Flint's water issue for years. The Flint documentary that Netflix released
piqued my curiosity. Following that time, I have examined this problem and composed a number
of articles about it for a course I took on Applied Natural Science. If nothing is done, this
problem, which has already impacted hundreds of lives, will persist..
According to the documentary "Flint's Deadly Water," Flint, Michigan, intended to build a new
pipeline to carry cheap, high-quality water from Lake Huron to Eastern Michigan. In addition to
providing the state with a cheap long-term water source, this would foster regional collaboration
and economic opportunities. On the contrary, it was found that the water had significant levels of
lead contamination and was therefore dangerous to drink. But the water also included other
hazardous substances than lead. Droplets of bacteria were also discovered in the water, and if
breathed, they might cause legionnaires' disease, a pneumonia-like condition. The city of Flint
made the decision to temporarily utilize water from the Flint River rather than purchasing water
from Detroit until additional pipelines had been constructed. Legionella-causing germs were able
to flourish because of the aging pipes' extensive erosive conditions. State authorities rejected
assistance from the CDC and refused to accept that instances of legionnaires' disease were linked
to Flint's water supply as the outbreak of legionnaires progressed. State officials didn't officially
report the epidemic for over two years. Following a swift criminal inquiry, some of these
officials were accused of malfeasance and carelessness for the enormous water crisis cover-up.
It seems like entrepreneurship when state leaders act irresponsibly and local communities show
blatant disregard for the water contamination. Social and cultural anthropology may be used to
teach people about the history of the city and how it is connected to a much larger catastrophe
occurring within our nation's capital. The social branch of anthropology can shed light on the
evolution of Flint's inhabitants as a community and within their culture. Could it be because Flint
is one of the most ethnically divided cities in the nation? The rise and collapse of the General
Motors Plant a few years ago could have something to do with it. Or maybe it's both?
Additionally, biological anthropology may be able to shed light on the "relationship between a
changing socio-ecological environment and human physiology, health, and well-being in
resource-poor communities in the past and present."n.d., Department of Anthropology
Reference
Department of Anthropology. (n.d). Biological Anthropology. Department of Anthropology:
Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. University of Georgia.
https://anthropology.uga.edu/biological-anthropology
