Politically Unhealthy: Flint’s Fight Against Poverty, Environmental Racism, and Dirty Water

Robinson, Tomeka M.; Shum, Garrett; Singh, Sabrina

doi:10.30658/jicrcr.1.2.6

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…A lack of diversity within hydrologic sciences and engineering has (a) led to serving communities inequitably and ignoring historical injustices. For example, environmental justice in pollution (Hajat et al., 2015; Robison et al., 2018), disproportionate climate change/severe weather impacts to low‐income minority communities (Adeola & Picou, 2017; Parvin et al., 2016), sexism in water resource management (CDC, 2021; UNICEF, 2016) and global south weather forecasts are underserved due to models being focused on Europe/United States, as well as a lack of ground data (Vaughan et al., 2019; World Bank, 2016). Moreover, (b) it leads to less innovation in science (Phillips, 2014; “Science benefits from diversity,” 2018).…”

Section: Inclusive Equitable and Accessible Science: Involvement Chal...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrological Perspectives on Integrated, Coordinated, Open, Networked (ICON) Science

Acharya¹,

Ahmmed

Chen

et al. 2022

Earth and Space Science

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This article discusses the Integrated, Coordinated, Open, Networked (ICON) principles in hydrology with respect to: field, experimental, remote sensing, and real-time data research and application (Section 2); Machine learning (ML) for multiscale hydrological modeling (Section 3); and Inclusive, equitable, and accessible science: Involvement, challenges, and support of early career, marginalized racial groups, women, Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer or questioning (LGBTQ+), and/or disabled researchers (Section 4

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Section: Inclusive Equitable and Accessible Science: Involvement Chal...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrological Perspectives on Integrated, Coordinated, Open, Networked (ICON) Science

Acharya¹,

Ahmmed

Chen

et al. 2022

Earth and Space Science

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“…Nonprofits enhance environmental health by addressing unmet environmental needs in coastal communities, advocating and providing services to protect the environment, and promoting environmental sustainability (Robinson et al, 2018). For example, environmental nonprofits may use fundraising to educate the public about the relevance and importance of environmental problems and their effects (Campbell, 2019; Lor, 2006).…”

Section: Background and Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Between the Public and the Private Interest: The Interrelationship of Intermediary Roles of Environmental Nonprofits in Coastal Resilience

Saitgalina

Yusuf

Olanrewaju-Lasisi

2022

Administration & Society

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Government regulators cannot mitigate the loss of wetlands and coastal erosion alone. Nonprofits, uniquely situated between coastal property owners with personal interests and governments with regulatory interests, are positioned to mediate the interests of different parties while considering local context and individual circumstances. However, it is unclear what roles environmental nonprofits play within the network of actors. This study asks: (1) What roles do environmental nonprofit organizations play in local stakeholder network arrangements for wetlands conservation and shoreline management? (2) How are these roles interrelated? We use two frameworks describing the roles of nonprofits to examine the roles of environmental nonprofits within the network of actors that seek to mitigate loss of wetlands and coastal erosion by focusing on living shorelines as shoreline management solutions utilizing natural and nature-based features. We show how these roles are interrelated to provide context for how government can leverage nonprofits in achieving regulatory outcomes.

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“…The fact that Flint's population is 57% African American, with over 40% of residents living below the poverty line, has led many to describe the city's water crisis as an example, or even a textbook case, of environmental injustice and environmental racism (Benz, 2017;Berliner, 2017;Butler et al, 2016;Dana & Tuerkheimer, 2017;Katner et al, 2016;Lubrano, 2017;Mohai, 2018;Pauli, 2019;Pulido, 2016;Ranganathan, 2016;Robinson, Shum, & Singh, 2018). The race and class of Flint residents have been invoked to explain the decision to use the Flint River, the dismissive attitude of officials toward resident complaints (Johnson et al, 2018;Krings et al, 2018), the inaction of government agencies in the face of obvious problems, and problematic media coverage-or noncoverage-of the crisis (Carey & Lichtenwalter, 2019;Nicholas & Cohan, 2019).…”

Section: Environmental Justice and Human Rightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Flint water crisis

Pauli

2020

WIREs Water

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The Flint water crisis is one of the most significant environmental contamination events in recent American history. In April 2014, the city of Flint, Michigan, while under the control of an emergency manager appointed by the governor, switched its drinking water supply from Lake Huron water treated and distributed by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to the Flint River. Failure to treat the water properly at the Flint Water Treatment Plant led to a variety of problems with water quality and public health. Low chlorine in parts of the water system fostered bacterial growth and contributed to an historic outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in 2014-2015. High levels of trihalomethanes brought the city into violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act in late 2014. Finally, systemic lead contamination-revealed through a collaborative sampling effort by local activists and engineers in the summer of 2015resulted from corrosive water eating into lead pipes and other lead-bearing components of Flint's water infrastructure. In October 2015, after considerable public pressure, the city switched back to Lake Huron water. Efforts by federal, state, and local officials to respond to the crisis have focused on restoring water quality, repairing and replacing dangerous and damaged pipes, and addressing public health needs. At the popular level, residents and activists have continued to fight for accountability, reparations, and restoration. A variety of causal explanations for the crisis have been put forward, some focusing on water treatment, regulation, and infrastructure, others on the political context created by state takeover of the city, and others on historical factors like structural racism, deindustrialization, and depopulation.

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Politically Unhealthy: Flint’s Fight Against Poverty, Environmental Racism, and Dirty Water

Cited by 9 publications

References 30 publications

Hydrological Perspectives on Integrated, Coordinated, Open, Networked (ICON) Science

Hydrological Perspectives on Integrated, Coordinated, Open, Networked (ICON) Science

Between the Public and the Private Interest: The Interrelationship of Intermediary Roles of Environmental Nonprofits in Coastal Resilience

The Flint water crisis

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