Philadelphia City Council 2016 Stated Meetings of Philadelphia City Council, 28 Jan 2016

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From YouTube: Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown on the Flint Water Crisis 1-28-2016

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Philadelphia City Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown (At Large) speaks on the Flint Water Crisis during the Stated Meeting of Council held on January 28, 2016. Brown recalls efforts made in Philadelphia to improve public health and safety by requiring disclosures about lead paint. She states that Philadelphia has a responsibility to ensure that its own water is safe for its residents, especially its children.

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Absolutely okay! Thank you. Mr. president, at this moment, I would like to offer my remarks, focus my thoughts and lend my voice of support also to the citizens and, more importantly, the children of Flint Michigan.

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Here is why, as has already been alluded in December, forgive me in November, the citizens filed a class-action lawsuit against their governor city, state governments for the highly toxic levels of lead found in Flint's water supply that has been poisoning those residents for over two years as chair of City Council's Committee on the environment and sustainability, I pay close attention to this issue and I joined the Environmental Protection Agency, clean water action, the American Civil Liberties Union, the natural resources, defense council and so many other social and environmental organizations across the country and demanding justice and swift action from the governor first and then to the government to address this Katrina type disaster.

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We witness every day in Flint Michigan here's the background, like many municipalities facing extreme budget constraints, the city of flint changed its water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River as a temporary cost-cutting measure, bad judgment, the acidity of the water from the Flint River corroded pipes allowing dangerous levels of lead to leak into the water supply. Tap water turned to a strange color and tests showed lead levels rose 10 times higher than years before.

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The short-term and long-term health ramifications of this gross negligence are staggering at best and criminal at worse, one local hospital, a woman by the way, found that the percentage of flicked children with elevated lead levels doubled, leading to health effects such as skin lesions, hair loss, vision, loss memory, loss, depression and anxiety, even more tragic or the long-term effects of lead poisoning which damages and affects fertility, our kidneys, the nervous system, the cardiovascular system and circulation for sure, a child's behavior digestion, their bones muscle are only a part of the list.

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Colleagues, you may recall, as has been shared, that in year, 2010 I worked closely with Shelly an off took great guidance from Councilwoman Maria, quiñones, Sanchez and Councilwoman tasco, and we tackled the issue of lead and apartment dwellings. Here in our city, you may recall our biggest opponent at that time in this legislative journey was hepco, but for over a year the leadership and membership at petco and myself sat down and figured out painstakingly how we could tackle this important ugly health issue.

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I was proud to work with homeowners association of Philadelphia on build number 1, 0 0 1 1 dash a a lead paint disclosure ordinance. That is now long. In fact, if you are an apartment someone's seeking an apartment, it is now standard protocol. What we call standard operating procedure for potential winners to get a lip disclosure brochure. The process was long, sometimes unfriendly. However, after layered acts of diplomacy tweaking the bill to the best we could we drafted m1 a win-win outcome. Why?

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Because everyone in that dialogue fully recognized what mattered most the number one priority was: the health and safety of our fellow citizens, our families and our children and children. The effects are so much worse. It affects the nervous system, impairs the growth and development, cognitive development, forever, behavior, hearing sight, mobility and their digestive system. The lives of those children are changed forever. The sadness of this frightening reality is that the potential health consequences of this disaster for many of those children will be realized. Decades. From now, the government of Flint Michigan failed its citizens.

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It is imperative that residents get justice for the government's wrong. Current investigations by the United States Attorney's Office and the American Civil Liberties, Union and Michigan are a step in the right direction.

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The most ugly aspect of this debacle that turns my gut is that the victims of this tragedy, our priority, primarily minority and primarily low-income citizens, I question what the action may have been if the citizens had not been majority minority or majority low-income citizens in closing, I salute and staying with my colleagues, councilman Johnson, who eloquently share with us how important it is to call on the United, States Department of Justice, to conduct a complete and thorough investigation of the water supply and I stand with Councilwoman gum.

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As we put this issue back on the radar screen with the water department and work in a collaborative fashion with the administration, this Katrina deja vu reads like a script of a fictional movie. The reality is that is a real life circumstance for an American city, Thank You. Mr. president, thank you.