On May 1, a pipe
rupture prevented 2 million people in the Greater Boston Area from drinking tap
water for two-and-a-half days. Residents of 30 towns and cities were under one
of the biggest boil-water orders in the United States in recent history. There
was a rush on bottled water in stores as well.
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Access to safe
water is essential for life. People need water to drink, for cooking, for
laundry, dishwashing and personal hygiene. When safe water is not readily
available, life becomes extremely difficult.
While the tap
water was not safe on the night of May 1 and into May 2, there was a rush on
bottled water in stores all over the area. Along with the rush for safe water
came reports that store chains and owners were taking advantage of the
situation and overcharging customers. According to the Boston Globe, one
resident of the Jamaica Plain neighborhood found a case of water being sold for
more than $52 in a 7-Eleven store in her community.
Water should be
a guaranteed right for all and it should be free. But under capitalism, it is a
commodity sold to make a profit. Those who cannot afford the asking price must
simply suffer.
Many truck
drivers and grocery store workers in the Boston area were called in and forced
to work on Sunday, their day off, in order to meet the city’s demand for
bottled water. With jobs under constant threat in our current economy, these
workers likely did not feel that they could say “no” to “requests” from their
bosses to work these extra hours.
On May 3, it was
announced that local towns in the area would distribute water to residents for
free. The locations for distribution included surrounding suburbs and towns but
not a single location within the city of Boston. Working people within the
city, many of whom do not have access to a car, had no way to access these free
supplies.
The clamp that
broke and caused the crisis was less than 10 years old, said officials of the
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. According to the Boston
Globe, the state Water Infrastructure Finance Commission met for the first
time after the crisis was over to discuss the water system, which probably
needs billions of dollars in upgrades and repairs.
The recent
emergency may seem like an unusual event. However, lacking access to safe tap
water is not a new scenario to many working people in and around Boston. An
organization called Massachusetts Global Action has found that people who live
in Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan, which are low-income communities of color,
are 10 times more likely than residents of wealthier neighborhoods to
experience a water shutoff as a consequence of bill non-payment. Further, as
the proportion of people of color increases in a city ward, there is a
disproportionate likelihood that water will be shut off in a resident’s home if
a bill is not paid, according to Massachusetts Global Action. So while all 2
million people in the Greater Boston Area experienced this water crisis
together, it is a constant threat for many working people in the city.
Water is a human
right that should be guaranteed to all people. This “crisis” revealed that it
is not guaranteed to the working people of Boston, nor is it freely available
to most working people around the country. We must fight back against the
system of capitalism that puts a price on a most basic and necessary resource
for human survival, water.
