Flint Michigan Water Crisis Ethics Research Paper

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Total Length: 740 words ( 2 double-spaced pages)

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Abstract

Once the hub of General Motors, Flint, Michigan is now a town in disarray due to contaminated drinking water. In spite of dozens of class-action and individual lawsuits, the crisis has yet to be resolved fully. The city of Flint and the State of Michigan are both responsible for using lead piping in the town infrastructure, which is the direct cause of the lead contamination. Research definitively shows lead contamination causes innumerable, irreversible, and often fatal health problems. The Kantian, utilitarian, and egoism ethical perspectives all show that Flint residents deserve justice.

Summary of Case

In 2014, the city of Flint, Michigan diverted the town’s water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River. The EPA and independent organizations like Virginia Tech tested the Flint River water and found “dangerous levels of lead” at point of contact such as in people’s homes (“Flint Water Crisis Fast Facts,” 2017, p. 1). Although the water diversion was designed to save the city $5 million, it will end up costing many millions more to fix the problem, which has caused twelve deaths and countless other health problems (Ravve, 2017). Lawsuits have been filed, and criminal charges against fifteen state and city officials have also been filed (Ravve, 2017).

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The Flint water crisis represents egregious errors from multiple ethical points of view.

Ethical Perspectives

Kantian

Deontological (Kantian) ethics are based on the ethical duty to fulfill basic, universal moral codes. Those codes include such straightforward ethics like refraining from harming others, respecting others, and helping others. Using the Kantian ethical perspective, the government has a clear and absolute obligation to restore Flint’s drinking water immediately. The city and state government have not acted in accordance with their ethical duties, given their initial diversion of the Flint supply to the contaminated river (“Flint Water Crisis Fast Facts,” 2017) and their lack of action taken to mitigate the crisis (Ravve, 2017; Moore, n.d.).

Utilitarian

Utilitarianism is based on the principle of maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain, or creating the greatest good for the greatest number of people. It is a consequentialist perspective. Utilitarian views would deride the Flint crisis, given that the residents of the entire town of 100,000 does not have access to clean drinking water and has been exposed to contaminants proven to cause major health problems (Ravve, 2017). Everything from fetal deaths, skin rashes….....

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