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There’s a water crisis in Flint, Michigan.
Children are being rushed to the hospital with irreversible brain damage. The federal government has declared a state of emergency, and dangerous water contamination is causing residents to go blind, develop skin lesions, and lose hair and even their memory — just from bathing in their own homes.
by +SumofUs Staff Writer, 2016
The entire community is living in fear — all because Governor Rick Snyder wanted to save money, and switched the city’s water supply from one of the largest and cleanest water supplies in the world to the highly corrosive Flint River.
Meanwhile, Michigan’s Governor has been cozying up with Nestlé, allowing it to pump 200 gallons of fresh water every minute out of the state’s reserves.
Nestlé is the largest owner of private water sources in Michigan — water the people of Flint sorely need – and the water-guzzling corporation has deep ties to Governor Rick Snyder’s office. This is the same office that thought nothing off undermining the public system that was supposed to keep the people of Flint safe.
Deb Muchmore, the head spokesperson for Nestlé Michigan, is married to Governor Snyder’s chief of staff. As Michael Moore wrote recently, “The Muchmores have a personal interest in seeing to it that Nestlé grabs as much of Michigan’s clean water as possible.”
Nestlé has been repeatedly sued over its aggressive acquisition of private water reserves and the alarming amounts of water it sucks out of Michigan’s ground. The multinational has been under fire in Michigan since 2003 when a judge ordered Nestlé to stop its operations due to ecological harm and a massive reduction in water levels from its operations. Even as recently as last year, Nestlé Waters CEO Tim Brown said that if he could bottle more of drought-stricken California’s water for profit, he would.
Allowing companies like Nestlé to do whatever they want comes hand in hand with undermining the public water system we rely on. Water problems across the state are due to corruption, self-interest, and putting the public’s interest last. And we’ve had enough.
We need to come together behind the people of Flint and say enough is enough.
Call on Governor Snyder to stop the privatization of Michigan’s water supply.
Campaign created by SumOfUs member Matt Zandstra
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