密歇根新闻广播 密歇根州长因饮用水含铅事件被抗议者要求下台

Residents of Flint, Michigan have been dealing² with a water crisis for more than a year now.

The number of children with higher lead levels has doubled since 2014, when the government switched drinking water sources. For almost four months, people have been told not to drink the tap water because there's too much lead in it.

But it was just Saturday that President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Flint.

Karen Weaver³ means business. She was elected mayor of Flint in November and in office, one of the first things she did was to declare an emergency for the city. She pushed for a similar declaration at the state and federal level, even when people told her the city's man-made disaster wouldn't qualify.

Saturday night at Flint City Hall she shared some good news from the White House.

"I just wanted to say that the president has granted our request for an emergency declaration," Weaver said. The crowd of council persons and about two dozen residents cheered.

In an odd way, getting this federal recognition is a big win for the city; a validation⁴ of sorts.

Flint's water problems have been festering for more than a year. The city was being run by a state appointed emergency manager when they made the decision to get cheaper tap water from the Flint River.

After that switch, the state's environmental regulators misdirected city officials on how to treat the water. When local pediatricians produced data showing more kids were being exposed to lead, state officials initially⁵ discredited⁶ the findings.

The Department of Justice and Michigan's Attorney General are looking into the matter.

In the meantime, Governor Snyder has repeatedly apologized to the people in Flint. True to form, he's focusing on what he calls "relentless⁷ positive action."

"Let's focus in on, there's a commitment to solve the problem in Flint and I sincerely mean that. Hopefully you can see that," Snyder said at a press conference in Detroit on Wednesday.

"We're taking every action that, within reason and actually asking people to go beyond reasonable, to help address this question. Because this is something nobody wanted to see ever happen and we're doing our best to take care of it," he said.

Snyder repeatedly takes the time to list the things the state has done since October. The state has tested the water at schools. The state has handed out more than 50,000 water filters and 26,000 cases of water. But, Snyder said last week in Flint, "Those actions were not good enough. We've worked hard but we need to get more connections to the citizens of Flint."

More than 40% of people in Flint live in poverty. Many don't have the means to drive to a distribution center once a week and load a case or two of free bottled water in their trunks.

That's why Snyder started sending teams door to door last week. He activated⁸ the Michigan National Guard and asked the federal government for help.

But that's not enough for many Flint residents.

Nayyirah Shariff was among a couple hundred protestors who gathered outside Snyder's office Thursday. She says the only thing Governor Snyder can do to appease⁹ Flint residents is to resign.

"The buck¹⁰ stops with him. This happened under his watch. His agencies covered it up. And he can flush his apology down the toilet because that's all it's worth," Shariff said. "If he really wanted to apologize he should've done it back when we switched to Detroit and when he knew there was lead contamination. We had to drag him kicking and screaming down this path."

John Lindstrom's office is on the 12th floor, overlooking the protests on Michigan's capitol. Lindstrom is the publisher of Gongwer News Service. In his 34 years covering state government, Lindstrom has seen plenty of governors that people didn't like. But this feels different to him.

"There's genuine hate out there right now. People calling for the governor to be put in jail, face criminal charges, which I cannot foresee see a circumstance where he would but that's something I've never seen before," Lindstrom said.

Lindstrom does not think there's much of a chance that Snyder will resign.

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver told residents Saturday the federal emergency declaration means the federal government, not state officials, will coordinate¹¹ all disaster relief efforts.

"They will continue to assess our conditions and see what needs to happen next. The fight is not over but this is a huge hurdle¹² that we have surpassed," Weaver said.

The federal government will provide up to $5 million dollars for free bottled water, filters and water testing kits¹³ for up to 90 days. But that'll barely make a dent¹ in Flint's long term needs. In Snyder's request to Obama last week, he wrote that early estimates show it could cost at least $760 million to completely replace the lead service lines on both public and private property in Flint.

1 dent   

n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展

参考例句：

• I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
• That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。

2 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

3 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

4 validation   

n.确认

参考例句：

• If the countdown timer ever hits zero, do your validation processing. 处理这种情况的方法是在输入的同时使用递减计时器，每次击键重新计时。如果递减计时器变为零，就开始验证。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Although the validation control is a very widespread idiom, most such controls can be improved. 虽然确认控件是非常广泛的习惯用法，但还有很多有待改进的地方。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

5 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

6 discredited   

不足信的，不名誉的

参考例句：

• The reactionary authorities are between two fires and have been discredited. 反动当局弄得进退维谷，不得人心。
• Her honour was discredited in the newspapers. 她的名声被报纸败坏了。

7 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

8 activated   

adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The canister is filled with activated charcoal.蒸气回收罐中充满了活性炭。

9 appease   

v.安抚，缓和，平息，满足

参考例句：

• He tried to appease the crying child by giving him candy.他试图给那个啼哭的孩子糖果使他不哭。
• The government tried to appease discontented workers.政府试图安抚不满的工人们。

10 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

11 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

12 hurdle   

n.跳栏，栏架；障碍，困难；vi.进行跨栏赛

参考例句：

• The weather will be the biggest hurdle so I have to be ready.天气将会是最大的障碍，所以我必须要作好准备。
• She clocked 11.6 seconds for the 80 metre hurdle.八十米跳栏赛跑她跑了十一秒六。

13 kits   

衣物和装备( kit的名词复数 )； 成套用品； 配套元件

参考例句：

• Keep your kits closed and locked when not in use. 不用的话把你的装备都锁好放好。
• Gifts Articles, Toy and Games, Wooden Toys, Puzzles, Craft Kits. 采购产品礼品，玩具和游戏，木制的玩具，智力玩具，手艺装备。