The Irish Examiner and The Irish Times reported last week that the drinking water supply to more than 400,000 people is contaminated with THMs.
THMs, or trihalomethanes, are a group of four chemicals formed as a by-product of the process in which drinking water is disinfected to exclude fecal and other bacteria from the supply.
These chemicals are most infamous for their central role in the widely covered water crisis in Flint, Michigan.
The city of Flint, as part of its post-crash austerity measures, attempted to save $19 million dollars by switching its water supply from the Detroit water system to water drawn directly from the Flint River.
The hasty switch-over did not provide time for the Flint River water to undergo all of the necessary testing. It soon emerged that the new supply was contaminated by Coliform bacteria, a species of bacteria associated with the presence of fecal matter. To counteract this, the city treated the water with an aggressive diet of disinfectant chemicals.
Reaction
It was this reactionary disinfection that produced the THM crisis. The city issued boil-water notices and warnings to the young, pregnant and infirm not to drink unfiltered water. Several Flint schools, preschools and hospitals switched to using bottled water. The city, meanwhile, was found to be in contravention of the Safe Drinking Water Act. This violation has since given rise to a number of large class-action lawsuits.
State officials commissioned a private water consultant from Veolia to determine whether or not the city should revert to sourcing its water from Detroit. The consultant reported that the Flint water was safe to drink and that no change was required. Many took heed of this advice and continued to drink and bathe in the contaminated water.
Flint’s crisis was compounded by the fact that Flint River water is highly corrosive (so much so that General Motors ceased using it in engine production) and was causing lead from inside the city’s outdated water-transport system to leach into the drinking supply, leading to serious concerns around lead poisoning.
Despite these grave and persistent concerns, Flint residents were pursued for some of the highest water charges in the entire US. The city hired two extra investigators to look into possible cases of water theft. Several Flint residents faced criminal charges for refusing to pay. In another case, Flint resident Chris Wahmoff was imprisoned for a critical Tweet he published.
Concern over the presence of THM in the water supply is well-justified. The four-chemical group has been linked to a whole range of potentially life-threatening conditions. These include bladder and colon cancer, kidney and liver damage, problems with the Central Nervous System, IQ loss and reproductive issues such as miscarriages and birth-defects.
Rosa Pavanelli, general secretary of Public Services International, speaking about the THM and lead poisoning in Flint said: “The Flint crisis is a glaring example of the results of right-wing governments. Their politics of austerity maim and kill. Flint isn’t the only city and the U.S.A. isn’t the only country”.
Evidently not. It was reported last week that there’s concern about THM levels in water in Kerry, Cork, Kilkenny City, Waterford, Wicklow, Meath, Mayo, Roscommon, Donegal and Galway.
Meanwhile, in Flint, the deaths of ten people from Legionnaire’s disease (a particularly serious form of pneumonia) has been linked to the contamination. The FBI and others are examining charges of involuntary manslaughter for those responsible for the city’s water system. The city was the target of a cyber-attack by the ‘hacktivist’ group Anonymous. Several public figures, including Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, environmentalist Erin Brockovich and film-maker (and Flint-native) Micheal Moore have publicly criticised the handling of the crisis.
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