(TRUNEWS) The United Nations is considering a human rights probe into the Flint, Michigan water crisis.
The group said racism and class bias may have been a factor in the water contamination problem, as reported by the Washington Times. In April of 2014, Flint decided to switch its water supplier. The EPA is accused of knowing that the water supply could be in jeopardy due to pipe corrosion. Many people were tested and had elevated lead levels as a result of drinking the water.
Officials tried at first to fix the problem, without informing the residents.
The United Nations headquarters building is pictured through a window with the UN logo in the foreground in the Manhattan borough of New York August 15, 2014. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
Since Flint has a black majority population, now a U.N. official believes that fact played into the idea of switching the water supplier. More than 40 percent of the population lives in poverty.
“Decisions would never have been made in the high-handed and cavalier manner that occurred in Flint if the affected population group was well-off or overwhelmingly white,” Philip Alston, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, said in a statement Tuesday.
President Obama visited Wednesday, where he plans to push for more government regulation of water. He will also blast Republicans.
“The president will make a broader argument about just how important it is for government at all levels to function effectively,” said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest. “That stands in pretty stark contrast to some Republican candidates who suggest that environmental agencies shouldn’t even exist.”
The FBI is looking into the problem and said a few months ago it would join a criminal investigation with federal prosecutors in Michigan to see if laws were broken.
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