Detroit Makes You Sick...

Newsweek: Problems that led to Flint water crisis are also present in Detroit

DETROIT [[WXYZ) - “Detroit makes you sick” Does that get your attention? It is supposed to.

We are the cover story of Newsweek magazine and it has people talking.

The writer, Zoë Schlanger, says Detroit is making people sick because of a lack of regulatory control. She says all eyes are on us because of the Flint water crisis. But it is not the only crisis. Schlanger writes, and we all know, that southwest Detroit and River Rouge are dirty.

There are 52 sites of heavy industry in a 3-mile radius - belching pollutants into the air, causing high rates of asthma and other problems for people who live nearby.

This became big news again when local residents and Detroit’s mayor spoke out against the Marathon refinery asking the state Department of Environmental Quality for a permit to emit an additional 22 tons of sulfur dioxide each year.Because of the opposition, a deal may now be in the works to reduce that, but the mix of all pollutants in this area for decades is a concern.
The Flint water crisis, lead poisoning that could have been prevented, focused the eyes of the world on us. Common sense was missing there and she writes, it also is in southwest Detroit.

Schlanger says it is environmental injustice and even environmental racism, because the people who live here are mostly minorities, and can’t simply afford to move, at their own expense.

She hopes her story gets more people talking.

http://www.wxyz.com/news/region/detroit/newsweek-problems-that-led-to-flint-water-crisis-are-also-present-in-detroit

Here's another version of the story...

http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/loca...14630713-story

That Marathon refinery never should have been allowed to expand so greatly in the middle of a city. The easily foreseeable result of that truly lousy deal is now becoming painfully [[literally) obvious.

So when it's something positive going on in a suburb, it's "Michigan," the name of said suburb or "SE Michigan"

When it's something negative going on in a suburb, it's "Detroit."

This is no surprise to me, the air in these parts has been polluted like this my entire life. The diesel exhaust from Semis alone can be visible in the air some days. As a kid, my friends in Del Rey would routinely blow out tissues full of black stuff between the occasional asthma attack.

Ive always predicted that as soon as the newbie transplant SW parents realize that the black shit they wipe off their TV stands all summer is being breathed in by their kids, they will bolt. I know of a few who have already, but for lots of other reasons too.

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Originally Posted by EastsideAl

That Marathon refinery never should have been allowed to expand so greatly in the middle of a city. The easily foreseeable result of that truly lousy deal is now becoming painfully [[literally) obvious.

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I always thought running a Marathon was healthy.

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Originally Posted by canuck

I always thought running a Marathon was healthy.

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Just for the people running it, the rest, not so much.

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Originally Posted by detroitsgwenivere

Ive always predicted that as soon as the newbie transplant SW parents realize that the black shit they wipe off their TV stands all summer is being breathed in by their kids, they will bolt. I know of a few who have already, but for lots of other reasons too.

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You mean Mexicans? They're already moving downriver, and to places like Taylor and Romulus, when they have enough saved for a down payment. Not too many hipster types in SW Detroit. The poor blacks and whites in SW probably aren't going anywhere.

It's Delray, not Del Rey

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Originally Posted by preserve

It's Delray, not Del Rey

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Thank You! And it's not Del-a-ray, either.

I didn't have the patience to read this whole piece, but I hope they mentioned that WE BUILT AN INCINERATOR JUST OUTSIDE OF DOWNTOWN IN THE HEART OF THE CITY.

1953

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Originally Posted by EastsideAl

That Marathon refinery never should have been allowed to expand so greatly in the middle of a city. The easily foreseeable result of that truly lousy deal is now becoming painfully [[literally) obvious.

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I thought equality of opportunity has been annointed as the next holy grail. Marathon provides jobs. You really want those jobs to move out of Detroit? That's not just? Jobs need to be provided for Detroiters. In fact, they should only be available to the disadvantaged residents of Detroit by law.

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Originally Posted by preserve

It's Delray, not Del Rey

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OK when youre juggling work and personal stuff on the same computer, some of these specifics slip through the cracks. My autotext does what it wants.

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Originally Posted by Bham1982

....Not too many hipster types in SW Detroit. The poor blacks and whites in SW probably aren't going anywhere.

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There are some hipster types who live in SW, I've worked with them and did service work for some of their homes when I worked for the utility company. People who'd rented in Corktown but could not afford to buy there have moved SW [[not necessarily to ground zero areas like Delray, true).

Speaking of which, living in Corktown exposes one to a higher amount of air pollution than living in other parts of Detroit. We've had black stuff in the air during the summer months, a few days over the last decade when some weird substance has fallen on our cars... But I still choose to stay here so I won't complain much. I don't have asthma, and don't blow black stuff out of my nose like the folks living downriver do.

I've yet to recall meeting any hipsters living downriver though. Maybe I'm wrong?