密歇根新闻广播 弗林特河里的水比人们想象的干净

 

When it comes to the Flint water crisis, there has been plenty of blame to go around.

In addition to the human errors and incompetence¹ from the likes of the Snyder administration, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the EPA, and a series of unelected emergency managers, many have pointed² fingers at another culprit: the Flint River itself.

When Stateside took the show on the road on April 22, a guest took exception to blaming the river. Rebecca Fedewa, the executive director of the Flint River Watershed³ Coalition⁴ and the vice-chair of the Flint River Corridor Alliance.

"We have a river that has suffered from a bad reputation for many, many years anyway," Fedewa said. "And when this crisis hit, we saw a whole lot of blame at the local, state and national level and in the press and the experts saying that we have this toxic⁵ river and it was such a folly⁶ of a decision to make that switch to using the Flint River [as a water source].

"But we know with the data that we [have collected] over the years that we have a fantastic river system," Fedewa added. "It's fully⁷ supporting of all aquatic⁸ life and we were confident that the river could serve as a quality drinking water source."

According to Fedewa, the water crisis was not caused by the water from the Flint River, it was the fact the water wasn't treated properly. 

The Flint River has had a bad reputation over the years largely due to industrial pollution, which Fedewa said was largely taken care of thanks to the Clean Water Act. What many people see of the river is the stretch of it that runs near downtown Flint, which she admits is "not attractive." But she pointed out that there's more than 140 other miles of the Flint River that many people don't see.

"You don't have to go up north for that wonderful river experience," Fedewa said.

Listen to the full interview to hear more about the Flint Riverfront Restoration Plan and the dredging project that are both in the works, as well as the many recreational opportunities that the Flint River offers.

1 incompetence   

n.不胜任，不称职

参考例句：

• He was dismissed for incompetence. 他因不称职而被解雇。
• She felt she had been made a scapegoat for her boss's incompetence. 她觉得，本是老板无能，但她却成了替罪羊。

2 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

3 watershed   

n.转折点，分水岭，分界线

参考例句：

• Our marriage was at a watershed.我们的婚姻到了一个转折关头。
• It forms the watershed between the two rivers.它成了两条河流的分水岭。

4 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

5 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

6 folly   

n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话

参考例句：

• Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
• Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 aquatic   

adj.水生的，水栖的

参考例句：

• Aquatic sports include swimming and rowing.水上运动包括游泳和划船。
• We visited an aquatic city in Italy.我们在意大利访问过一个水上城市。