No matter if you are washing dishes, taking a bath, cooking or brushing your teeth, water is a critical part of your daily life. When contaminated water strikes a community, residents and businesses alike are impacted in a way that previously was inconceivable. GM famously shifted their water use away from city water well ahead of public warnings on lead contamination in what has since become a community disaster in Flint. The potential for contaminated water to impact a community goes well beyond bureaucratic error, though, and can surround a wide range of issues.
First and most important is the health of community residents. Due to natural disaster, oil spill, industrial waste, poor governmental planning, an avoidable catastrophe at a major facility… generally the surrounding community is impacted far more than the business or entity responsible. When contaminated water causes problems for families, there can and should be recovery options available. The problem, though, is when blame-shifting prevents businesses and organizations from truly being accountable.
From lead poisoning in Flint to oil damage in the Gulf, communities have been crippled by events that were largely avoidable. The unfortunate circumstances in Flint may only be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to contaminated water, specifically when it comes to lead poisoning. Being left to wonder what’s in the water is an unfair type of limbo no community should face. And yet, as business booms and new events appear on the news, it’s perhaps more important than ever to ensure that our basic needs are met. And safe water is in fact one of those needs.
Before the issue of contaminated water is reduced to an issue of boil water warnings or the need to use bottled water, it is critical to understand that the real impact is first on the months, sometimes years that the problem went undiscovered. Continued exposure to contaminated water can have critical, sometimes life-long consequences for communities. What’s more, the potential for exposure to contaminated water to result in pregnancy complications, at times even miscarriages, makes this more than just a source issue but, instead, one about the lives ruined by an organizational or governmental failure.
For more information about how we can help you and your community in light of a contaminated water crisis, do not hesitate to call us at (844) 820-0675 or fill out our online form. As we have done in places like Flint and for far too many families impacted by preventable birth injuries, our focus is on securing the future necessary due to critical, tragic problems in the past.
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