密歇根新闻广播 弗林特河水引入底特律供应水,但问题仍然存在

Flint is going back to Detroit water. 

The state, the city and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation together are kicking in $12 million to shut off the tap to the Flint River.

A year and a half ago, city leaders stood in Flint's water plant and raised plastic glasses to toast the city's switch to the Flint River.

Eighteen months later, Governor Snyder has announced the end of the Flint River experiment.

"I'm in full support of a return to the Great Lakes Water Authority (formerly the DWSD)," Snyder told a mid-morning news conference in Flint, "and that we do this in a prompt and efficient fashion."

It may only take a few weeks to bring to an end what has become a failed experiment.

Since shutting off the pipeline¹ from Detroit and tapping the Flint River for the city's drinking water, Flint residents have endured a progressively nightmarish existence every time they filled a glass from their kitchen faucet².

The cloudy water smelled and tasted bad. Then there were E. coli outbreaks. The heavy chlorination in response to those outbreaks left people with burned skin and hair falling out in clumps³.

A disinfectant by-product⁴ landed the city in violation⁵ of the Safe Drinking Water Act for a year.

And then there's lead.

A Virginia Tech research team found 'serious' levels of lead in the tap water in a significant percentage of Flint homes. Other tests showed blood lead levels in Flint children have doubled since the switch.

New tests of drinking water in 13 Flint schools show 4 schools with seriously high lead levels. At one school, Freeman Elementary on the city's south side, the water tested at more than 100 parts per billion. That's more than six times the federal action level for lead. 

"We are suggesting we have specialized⁶ staff go in and really track who has elevated blood levels," says Nick Lyon, the director of the Department of Health and Human Services, "You don't know the facts until you know the facts. So we're going to test these children."

Pastor⁷ Allen Overton has been a leader in the grassroots movement to return Flint to Detroit water. He listened as the governor and other officials talked about the steps being taken to quickly get Detroit water flowing to Flint again. 

Overton blames Flint's mayor and other city leaders for not asking the governor for help sooner.

"If they had (brought) it to the governor before now I think he would have moved before now," says Overton, "But they were slow about getting it to the governor. So that's why I think it took so long to get to this point."

The head of Flint's public works department says it will take about two weeks to re-connect with Detroit's system.

But that doesn't end Flint's water woes⁸.

The highly corrosive⁹ Flint River water has caused, by some estimates, tens of millions of dollars in damage to older lead and iron pipes in Flint. Lead will continue to leach¹⁰ into the water even after the switch to a less corrosive water source. Then there are the long-term health effects on children who have been drinking water with high levels of lead for more than a year. 

Flint Mayor Dayne Walling says the city will need help repairing and replacing the city's aging and decaying water infrastructure¹¹.

He suggests other cities should pay attention to what's been happening in Flint.

"There are important lessons from Flint's experience," says Walling, "We need to take a look at federal and state policy reforms, that include expanding water safety sampling to include our most vulnerable families."

"We need to look at factors of affordability¹² in public health and infrastructure all being assessed together," Flint's mayor adds.

The governor says he's asking the Michigan legislature for half the expected 12 million dollar cost of getting Flint hooked back up to Detroit water. That's until next year, when a new pipeline from Lake Huron is expected to be ready. The Mott Foundation is kicking in four million dollars and the city will come up with two million dollars.

This experiment that was supposed to save millions of dollars will most certainly will end up costing the city and the state dearly.

1 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

2 faucet   

n.水龙头

参考例句：

• The faucet has developed a drip.那个水龙头已经开始滴水了。
• She turned off the faucet and dried her hands.她关掉水龙头，把手擦干。

3 clumps   

n.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的名词复数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声

参考例句：

• These plants quickly form dense clumps. 这些植物很快形成了浓密的树丛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bulbs were over. All that remained of them were clumps of brown leaves. 这些鳞茎死了，剩下的只是一丛丛的黃叶子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 by-product   

n.副产品，附带产生的结果

参考例句：

• Freedom is the by-product of economic surplus.自由是经济盈余的副产品。
• The raw material for the tyre is a by-product of petrol refining.制造轮胎的原材料是提炼汽油时产生的一种副产品。

5 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

6 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

7 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

8 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

9 corrosive   

adj.腐蚀性的；有害的；恶毒的

参考例句：

• Many highly corrosive substances are used in the nuclear industry.核工业使用许多腐蚀性很强的物质。
• Many highly corrosive substances are used in the nuclear industry.核工业使用许多腐蚀性很强的物质。

10 leach   

v.分离，过滤掉；n.过滤；过滤器

参考例句：

• Liquid water can leach soluble materials from the interface.液态水能够从界面溶解出可溶性物质。
• They believe that the humic materials are leached from decaying plant materials.他们认为腐植物料是从腐烂的植物体浸沥而来。

11 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

12 affordability   

可购性

参考例句：

• Performance-Based Logistics Affordability: Can We Afford Categorical Conversion to Performance-Based Acquisition? 基于性能的后期的可承受性：能否担负得起向基于性能的采办的无条件的转变？
• There would be no crisis of affordability, as't for food or clothing. 就想食物与服装一样，因为供给没有危机。