Poisoned Water Worksheet PDF

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ESCI 1 Greene - NOVA - POISONED WATER Worksheet

1. What is the new source of drinking water for Flint, Michigan? The Flint River. 2. What was the City’s old water source and what was wrong with it? Lake Huron. Nothing was wrong with it. 3. Why did they want to switch? Government officials wanted to save money. 4. Where did the water drawn from the Flint River get treated? The old Flint water plant. 5. What were some of the first problems that people noticed? Colored water, bleach/rotten eggs smells, fatigue, aches and pains. 6. Leeanne Walters started to ask questions of the City. What are some of the steps that she took? Requesting documents about the water treatment program, chemicals used, raw water data before treatment. 7. What is river water like when it goes into the treatment process? Brown, and cloudy with particles (clays, leaves, decaying sticks, bacteria). 8. How are particles removed from the water? Coagulant that helps particles stick together, and sinking the particle globs to the bottom. 9. What % of the solids get removed from this part of the treatment process? 90%-95%. 10. To remove additional solids the water moved through filtration beds that contain sand. The water looks clean after this but what might it still contain? Invisible toxins. 11. The water is then processed through a carbon filters and chemicals are added like: Similar to aquarium use of charcoal, fluoride and fluorine. 12. Why are river waters more difficult to treat than lake waters? River waters change very rapidly, so the entire treatment plan has to be ready to respond within hours. 13. Months later why was the City issuing health warnings? E. Coli was found in Flint's water. 14. What does the government add to the water to combat this health problem? Chlorine. 15. Why does General Motors issue a warning about the Flint River water? Flint river water is corroding its engine parts, switches back to Detroit water on its own. 16. What were the 3 things that Miguel del Toral noticed were wrong? E. Coli found in water, high disinfection byproduct, and severely discolored water. 17. What is the Lead and Copper rule? Limits the amount of lead and copper allowed in drinking water before utilities must take action. 18. LeeAnne Walters had her home water tested and the tests came back that the lead concentrations were 104 parts per billion. What level does the EPA set for maximal lead levels in water? 15 parts per billion. 1

ESCI 1 Greene - NOVA - POISONED WATER Worksheet 19. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and the University of Cincinnati have conducted the longest running study of its kind to determine the effects of lead exposure to children. Lead tricks the body into thinking it is what element? Calcium. 20. When lead enters the body where does it primarily go? Goes to hide where calcium should be; bones and in the cells of the brain. 21. How does Lead interfere with neurons and brain growth? Calcium is essential for neurons to communicate. Lead blocks that flow of calcium, weakening synapses, and making brain function suffer. Disrupts brain growth, even leading to shrinkage or volume loss in brain tissue. 22. Marc Edwards, a professor from Virginia Tech, explains that lead enters the water almost exclusively from what source? Pipes. 23. Most service line pipes carrying drinking water to homes are primarily made of what substance? Iron. 24. If there is so much lead in our plumbing, why aren’t we all lead poisoned? (You may have to watch the video for a few minutes to get the answer). Complex chemical reactions between the water and the pipes/plumping materials. A scale (protective coating) is crucial, and becomes a barrier that prevents lead from leaking into the water. This scale can be made up to 90% lead. 25. How do water companies make sure the scale builds up on the inside of the pipes? A chemical is added to help build up the scale and protect the water. 26. This Corrosion Control Treatment for cities larger than 50,000 people is requires by what rule? EPA's lead and copper rule. 27. Was the city of Flint using Corrosion Control? No. 28. What was the result of the Flint water VS. Detroit water on the iron coil? Flint water corroded must faster than Detroit. 29. How did this corrosive water affect the scale inside of the water pipes? The scale began to flake off and deteriorate from all types of plumbing, including the lead. This lead began to dissolve rapidly into the water. 30. What symptoms were the people of Flint experiencing from drinking the contaminated water? Hair loss, rashes, discolored water. 31. Fourteen months later, Miguel del Toral’s emails press his agency (Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality – MDEQ) to take charge of the growing crisis. What is the response by the Mayor and other officials? He writes a preliminary report on the situation in Flint, sharing it with Leanne Walters, giving it to the press. Flint's water is a danger to Flint's residents and children. They were not being protected by federal corrosion control laws. There was a child who had been lead poisoned, and in all likelihood, there were many others. 32. Water analysis showed that the Flint drinking water was _______ times more contaminated than hazardous waste. 13,200 parts per billion of lead. 5,000 is considered hazardous waste. Three times worse. 2

ESCI 1 Greene - NOVA - POISONED WATER Worksheet 33. What city suffered the worst contamination event in modern US history from 2001 -2010? Washington D.C 34. How long had the residents been drinking contaminated water before the public was notified? Almost three years. 35. In 2004, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported that children in DC who had been drinking the contaminated water did not have high enough levels of lead in their blood to cause concern. What were some of the things that Edward’s discovered that cause him to call this report “bad science”? Over the next 6 years, spent thousands of dollars out of his own funds for documents under the Freedom of Information Act. Thousands of blood lead test results had been lost, and many of the individuals being tested were already drinking filtered or bottled water. There were grave problems with the scientific integrity of the study. 36. How many children did Marc Edwards estimate that were exposed to lead in the DC area? 40,000 children under the age of 2 or in the womb. Many could be left with lifelong problems. 37. Edwards had a team of students immediately go to Flint and start sampling the water. What was the key to get them to volunteer? Feed them free pizza. 38. Why did the residents of Flint have to follow a rigorous scientific protocol? For the results to be valid. Make sure everyone knew how to test their home waters. 39. Why was it important to have many samples in each different zip code? Statistical test to prove this as a citywide conflict, not limited to one home or zip code. 40. Samples collected by the Citizen Science programs yielded what results? When analyzed, many show high lead levels; some 6 times higher than the lead and copper rule allows. 41. What did the students call homes with high lead levels to ask them to do? Do not use tap water without a filter. 42. Did the City and State officials agree with their findings? No. 43. The documents obtained by the Freedom of Information Act requests showed several manipulations by the City and State. What were they doing to make it look as if there was no lead in the water? Testing protocols: precleaning pipes the night before sampling for 5 minutes, preflush the tap. They even threw away samples from Leanne Walters house, claiming that her house was not an approved sampling site, therefore they could not count any of those samples. 44. New evidence emerged that Bentanzo could not ignore. She contacted Dr. Hanna-Attisha and asked her to do what? Do a study on whether lead levels in childrens' blood has increased from before they switched the water. Hanna-Attisha was a pediatrician with access to crucial blood data at Flint's Children's Hospital. 45. What did the “State’s machinery” do with this evidence? They began to dismiss the research, and that the state's numbers didn't add up to HannaAttisha's numbers, causing hysteria. 46. A week later Dr. Eden Wells, chief medical executive at Michigan’s Department of Health concluded what? 3

ESCI 1 Greene - NOVA - POISONED WATER Worksheet She concluded the research was sound. She is pivotal in convincing other agencies of the important of these studies. 47. What is Legionnaires’ Disease? What triggered the outbreak of Legionella bacteria? One of the deadliest water-borne illnesses in the developed world. It is a severe form of pneumonia, caused by a legionella bacteria. Experts suspect this was triggered by Flint's water treatment. Corrosion control triggered this outbreak, as chlorine added to Flint's water should have killed out legionella. But without corrosion control, Flint's water filled up with rusty iron. Chlorine reacted with his rust, and was used up, so without chorine to stop it, leginella thrived inside Flint's water pipes. 90 people affected, 12 dead. 48. In October 2015, 18 months after the switch what did the City of Flint do? They changed back to the Detroit water system, and receives properly treated water from Lake Huron. 49. Can residents go back to drinking the tap water immediately? (What needs to reform inside the pipes first?) No, it will take many months for Flint's waterpipes to rebuild the protective scale that's been stripped away. 50. How many children under the age of 6 were exposed? 8,000. 51. How many criminal indictments were filed after this crisis? 13, including emergency manager and officials from Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Flint Water Plant. Charges include, tampering with evidence, conspiracy, and willful neglect of duty. 52. What is being done now to help the residents of Flint? Federal and state agencies have provided over $300 million to help the city, but some estimate about a billion and a half dollars will be needed to upgrade the water system, and provide services for family and children affected by the crisis. For now, bottled water is a way of life.

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