FLINT, MICHIGAN WAS THE MECCA OF PLAID ñ OF BAD DRINKING WATER
AFTER IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT INDIVIDUALS LIVING IN A
COMMUNITY WERE DRINKING LED.
IT TURNS OUT THAT THE DRINKING WATER IS A HUGE PROBLEM IN
OTHER MUNICIPALITIES THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.
CHICAGO, INDIANA IS NO EXCEPTION.
THERE ARE REPORTS THAT PEOPLE LIVING IN PUBLIC HOUSING IN THAT
AREA HAD TO DEAL WITH EXTREME LEVELS OF LEAD IN THEIR
SOIL, AND IT WASN'T UNTIL RECENTLY THAT THE EPA
DECIDED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
THANKFULLY WE HAVE OUR OWN FIELD REPORTER JORDAN CHARITON
COMING TO THE COMMUNITY AND SPEAKING TO THE INDIVIDUALS THEY
ARE ABOUT WHAT THEY'D EXPERIENCED.
THIS NEIGHBORHOOD WAS BUILT IN 72, 44 YEARS AGO, AND IT
WAS KNOWN TO BE BUILT ON A LEAD SWELTERING PLANT.
THEY KNEW THERE WOULD BE ISSUES HERE.
WHY THEY HAVE PRIORITIZE TESTING THE COMMUNITY FOR DECADES
LATER IS A HUGE ISSUE.
WHAT'S NORMAL IN THIS ISSUE IS ABOUT 22 PPM.
WHAT TRIGGERS A CLEANUP IS 400 PPM WITH THE EPA.
WE'RE SEEING AS HIGH AS 91,000 PPM.
THEY HAVEN'T SEEN LEVELS THAT I ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY.
I GOT A CALL INDICATING THAT THE RESIDENCE HERE GOT LETTERS FROM
THE MAYOR SAYING THAT THEY'VE GOT ANYWHERE BETWEEN 30 AND 90
DAYS TO VACATE THE PREMISES BECAUSE OF THE DANGER OF THE
LEAD AND THE ARSENIC WITHIN THE DIRT AREA OF THE PROPERTY,
AND THEY HAD TO MOVE.
EPA RIGHT NOW IS DESIGNING A PLAN HOW TO GO INTO SOMEBODY ñ
INTO SOMEBODY'S HOME AND CLEAN.
FURNITURE, COUNTERTOP, TELL YOU IF YOU NEED TO THROW THESE
CLOTHES OUT, THIS COUCH OUT, THAT KIND OF THING.
THIS IS REALLY CATASTROPHIC.
WE HAD NO IDEA WHAT WE WERE LIVING IN.
I'VE BEEN OUT HERE SINCE 2004 AND I HAD NO IDEA THAT THE
LEAD WAS AS BAD AS IT WAS IN OUR UNITS, AND IN OUR HOME AS WELL.
I HAD A SURGERY IN 2005, WHICH LED TO ME BEING DIAGNOSED IN
2006 BECAUSE I WASN'T GETTING ANY BETTER.
I HAD A COMPLETE HYSTERECTOMY AT THE AGE OF 29.
BEFORE YOU MOVED HERE, I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND, WERE YOU
HAVING ANY HEALTH ISSUES?
I NEVER WAS SICK A DAY IN MY LIFE UNTIL I MOVED OUT THERE.
HYSTERECTOMY AT THE AGE OF 29, THAT'S CRAZY.
IT'S NOT JUST ANECDOTAL, THEY ARE TESTING THE SOIL, AND THE
TEST ñ
THE SOIL IS COMING UP INCREDIBLY TOXIC AS THAT GUY EXPLAINED.
LEAD IS SUPER DANGEROUS.
THERE'S A THEORY OUT THERE THAT THE LEAD IN THE AIR IS WHAT
CAUSED CRIME TO SPIKE IN THE 1970S, AND IT USED TO NOT JUST
BE IN THE PAINT, WHICH IT WAS, BUT ALSO IT WOULD COME OUT
OF THE CARS.
IT'S NOT A THEORY THAT LEAD IS VERY DANGEROUS, THAT'S A FACT.
THE THEORY IS THAT IT WAS SO DANGEROUS THAT INCREASED LEVELS
OF LEAD IN THE AIR LED TO INCREASED VIOLENCE
THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME.
AND ONCE WE LITERALLY GOT THE LEAD OUT, AND REDUCED TO
THE LEVEL OF LEAD IN THE CARS IN THE PAINT, ETC.,
THEN CRIME STARTED TO DROP.
AGAIN, THAT COULD BE MANY FACTORS IN THAT SITUATION,
BUT EVERYBODY ACKNOWLEDGES THAT LEAD IS VERY DANGEROUS.
WHEN YOU BUILD ON TOP OF FORMER LEAD SMELTER IMPLANTS, OF COURSE
YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE AN ISSUE.
OF COURSE YOU SHOULD BE CAREFUL, REALLY REALLY CAREFUL.
THAT'S A REALLY DANGEROUS PLACE TO BUILD ON TOP OF.
I KNOW, IT'S INSANE.
1ST I WANT TO SAY BEFORE A COMMENT MORE ON THIS STORY,
THAT VIDEO WAS JUST A SNIPPET OF THE WORK THAT JORDAN DID,
AND I WANT YOU CHECK OUT THE FULL VIDEO, IT'S ABOUT SIX
MINUTES LONG, ON OUR TYT POLITICS PAGE.
IT'S THE FIRST OF A SIX PART SERIES.
IN THE SECOND PART OF THE VIDEO YOU ARE GOING TO HEAR FROM
STATE SENATOR LONNIE RANDOLPH, DISCUSS HIS COMMUNICATIONS
WITH THE OFFICE OF GOVERNOR MIKE PENCE.
AND ALSO INTERVIEWED BRAD BENNING, THE ON-SITE COORDINATOR
OF THE EPA AT REGION FIVE, SO WE TALKED TO A LOT OF HIGH-LEVEL
OFFICIALS THAT HAVE A LOT OF GOOD INSIGHT ON THIS STORY.
AGAIN, I DON'T WANT YOU GUYS TO THINK THIS IS AN ISOLATED
CASE, WE'RE OBVIOUSLY HAVING PROBLEMS WITH LEAD ACROSS
THE COUNTRY AND PROBLEMS WITH CONTAMINATED DRINKING
WATER, AND AS YOU CAN SEE IN THAT VIDEO ALONE, IT
DISPROPORTIONATELY IMPACTS CERTAIN GROUPS OF PEOPLE.
BY THE WAY CENK, TO YOUR POINT OF HOW WE KNOW LEAD IS
DANGEROUS, THINK PROCESS ñ THINK PROGRESS DID A REALLY GOOD PIECE
ON THIS WHERE THEY SAID THAT IF EXPOSED TO LEAD AT A YOUNG
AGE, CHILDREN CAN BE LEFT WITH SEVERE BRAIN DAMAGE,
LEADING TO MENTAL DISORDERS, SEIZURES AND BEHAVIORAL
DISORDERS, AND STUNTED GROWTH.
THIS IS PART OF HOW POOR PEOPLE GET STUCK IN A VICIOUS CYCLE.
THEY ARE NOT TYPICALLY HOLDING BEVERLY HILLS ON TOP OF OLD
LEAD PROCESSING PLANTS.
THE PORTABLE GET PUT THERE, THEY DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES, AND YOU
SAY LOOK AT THAT, AND THAT'S BECAUSE YOU BUILT THEIR HOUSE ON
TOXIC MATERIALS!
OBVIOUSLY THERE'S MANY DISADVANTAGES THE
POOR AND UP HAVING IN THE COUNTRY, BUT HERE IS AT LEAST A
PROBLEM THAT WE CAN IDENTIFY, AND I'M HOPING THAT WE CAN FIX.
PART OF FIXING IT INCLUDES PUTTING A SPOTLIGHT ON IT.
SO A TON OF NEWS, AS THEY SHOULD BE, ABOUT FLINT MICHIGAN,
BUT NOT ENOUGH NEWS ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE IN INDIANA.
AND AS ANA POINTED OUT, GOVERNOR OF INDIANA, IT'S NOT LIKE IT'S
AN IRRELEVANT PERSON, IT'S MIKE PENCE, RUNNING FOR VICE
PRESIDENT.
IF YOU PUT PRESSURE ON HIM AT A MOMENT LIKE THIS, HE MIGHT
ACTUALLY BE MOTIVATED TO DO SO ABOUT THIS.