Hastings Cent Rep. 2016 Jul;46(4):5-6. doi: 10.1002/hast.598.
The Flint, Michigan, lead drinking water crisis is perhaps the most vivid current illustration of health inequalities in the United States. Since 2014, Flint citizens-among the poorest in America, mostly African American-had complained that their tap water was foul and discolored. But city, state, and federal officials took no heed. In March 2016, an independent task force found fault at every level of government and also highlighted what may amount to criminal negligence for workers who seemingly falsified water-quality results, allowing the people of Flint to continue to be exposed to water well above the federally allowed lead levels. It would have been possible to prevent lead seeping into the drinking water by treating the pipes with federally approved anticorrosives for around $100 per day. But today the cost of repairing the Flint water system is estimated at $1.5 billion, and fixing the ageing and lead-laden system across the United States would cost at least $1.3 trillion. How will Flint residents get justice and fair compensation for the wrongs caused by individual and systemic failures? And how will governments rebuild a water infrastructure that is causing and will continue to cause toxic conditions, particularly in economically marginalized cities and towns across America?
密歇根州弗林特的饮用水含铅危机或许是美国当前健康不平等现象最生动的写照。自 2014 年以来,美国最贫困的居民之一——弗林特市民(大多数是非洲裔美国人)一直抱怨他们的自来水有异味且颜色发黄。但市、州和联邦官员对此置若罔闻。2016 年 3 月,一个独立的特别工作组指出各级政府都存在问题,并强调了工人们涉嫌伪造水质结果的行为可能构成刑事过失,因为他们让弗林特市民继续暴露在远超联邦允许含铅量的饮用水环境中。只要每天花费约 100 美元,用联邦批准的防腐蚀剂处理管道,就可以防止铅渗透到饮用水中。但如今,修复弗林特供水系统的费用估计为 15 亿美元,而修复全美老化且含铅的供水系统至少需要 1.3 万亿美元。弗林特居民将如何因个人和系统失误而获得正义和公平赔偿?政府将如何重建一个正在造成并将继续造成有毒环境的供水基础设施,特别是在美国经济边缘化的城市和城镇?