Finally, Something To Cheer In Flint’s Dirty Water Crisis

FLINT, MI — LeeAnn Walters, the woman who exposed the Flint water crisis despite repeated rebuffs from Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration, is among seven people from around the world who will be awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for grassroots environmental activism.

At Walters’ relentless prodding, tests eventually showed that one in six homes had lead levels in tap water that exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s safety threshold. The mother of fourbecame concerned after her children broke out in rashes, their hair began to fall out and they experienced other unexplained maladies.

Walters “worked tirelessly behind the scenes to bring justice to not only her immediate family but all residents of Flint," the Goldman Environmental Foundation said in an announcement of this year’s winners.

The Flint water crisis, which has been called one of the worst man-made disasters in modern history, began in 2014 when the city started getting its water from the Flint River. The switch was intended to save money, but the water's corrosive properties caused lead in the city's aging pipes to leach and expose thousands to dangerously high levels of lead, which can cause irreversible brain damage in children, lower IQs, anti-social and violent behavior, shortened life spans and a host of other problems.

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Walters and her neighbors began noticing an orange-brown tint to their water shortly after the switch to the Flint River, for years a dumping ground for industries, beginning with the lumber and paper mills, but also chemical processing plants and automobile manufacturers. By 1955, the river was so polluted that the city started getting water from a nearby reservoir. In 1967, the city began purchasing water from the city of Detroit, whose source was Lake Huron.

Walters, 40, is a stay-at-home mom married to a Navy serviceman. They divide their time between Flint and Norfolk, Virginia, where he is stationed. Trained as a medical assistant, the Goldman Environmental Prize winner for the United States rapidly educated herself in water chemistry, public works and environmental contamination.

Doing so was essential in her efforts to bring the water crisis to the forefront, but her “communal spirit and powerful moral compass proved equally critical to her ability to reach and organize Flint residents and experts alike,” the Goldman Environmental Foundation said.

Walters told Flint city officials there were problems with the water in late 2014, but it wasn’t until February 2015 that the city followed up. Tests revealed lead levels in the water were at 104 parts per billion — an unprecedented level for the city that prompted the city to warn residents under federal law.

As Walters immersed herself in research about lead exposure and learned more about the harmful effects of lead exposure, she had her four children tested. Each of them tested positive for lead exposure, and one of her twins was diagnosed with lead poisoning.

Still, state officials continued to assure residents the water was safe and that the problems with her children were isolated. As she dug deeper into the city’s historical water-quality data, she discovered the water from the Flint River was highly corrosive and had a hunch it hadn’t been treated properly to prevent lead from the city’s aging infrastructure from leaching into the water supply.

As government officials continued to dismiss her concerns, Walters began organizing her neighbors. In March 2015, she enlisted the help of Miguel del Toral, a regional manager for the EPA, who helped her document the issues, though the EPA itself took no official position. She also got help from Marc Edwards, an environmental engineer from Virginia Tech, who helped her conduct extensive water quality testing in Flint.

She sampled each ZIP code in Flint, and worked 100 hours per week for three straight weeks to collect 800 water samples, getting a 90 percent response rate from the residents. In some areas, lead levels were as high as 13,200 parts per billion, more than twice the level the EPA classifies as hazardous waste.

As public pressure mounted, the Michigan governor finally said in October 2015 that Flint would stop using the river as a source for its drinking water. A criminal investigation also began. Fifteen people have been criminally charged in the Flint disaster and cover-up, including five state and local officials charged with involuntary manslaughter. The dirty water has also been linked to a deadly outbreak of Legionnaire's disease, which claimed 12 lives.

Though the water in Flint has been deemed safe to drink, Walters continues her tenacious activism on water quality and prevention of future disasters like the one that occurred in Flint. She testifies and advocates for federal action to change lead testing standards and ensure oversight of water quality, and also encourages others like her to become citizen-scientists to safeguard their own drinking water supplies.

The Goldman Environmental Prize, which carries a $200,000 cash award, was created in 1989 by the late San Francisco philanthropists Richard and Rhoda Goldman. Winners are selected from nominations made by environmental organizations and others. The other winners are:

• Francia Marquez of Colombia, who rallied other women to vigorously oppose gold mining in the Cauca region.
• Claire Nouvian of France, who successfully campaigned against deep-sea fish trawling.
• Makoma Lekalakala and Liz McDaid of South Africa, who fought to stop a nuclear plant deal between their country and Russia.
• Manny Calonzo of the Philippines, who led an effort to ban lead paint.
• Khanh Nguy Thi of Vietnam, who used scientific research to discourage dependency on coal-fired power.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photo courtesy of the Goldman Environmental Prize