評論
打印
Charlie Mae Holcombe, 71, who lives in the area,
現年71歲，也住在該地區的查理·梅·霍爾科姆表示，
said that the lack of sanitation accounts for the allergies, asthma and heart problems pervasive in the county.
正因為缺乏衛生設施，過敏、哮喘和心臟問題在該縣十分普遍。
"Everyone's dying," she tells photographer Matt Black.
“每個人都是要死不活的，”她對攝影師馬特·布萊克說道。
Hers is one of dozens of stories Black gathered as he documented America's water crisis for over a year.
布萊克用了一年的時間收集到了數十個有關美國用水危機的故事，霍爾科姆的故事就是其中之一。
For most Americans, water does not get a second thought.
對大多數美國人而言，水都是一個自然而然的東西。
It flows at the turn of a knob, at a cost that is all but negligible.
只要擰一下水龍頭就會出來，幾乎不費吹灰之力。
This is as it should be.
原本也應如此。
Being essential to life, clean water is a right under international law and U.N. declarations.
我們的生活離不開清潔用水，正因為如此，國際法和聯合國的有關宣言都將清潔用水定義成了所有人應有的一項權利。
Yet in the U.S., it's far from guaranteed.
然而，在美國，這一權利遠沒有得到保障。
More than 30 million Americans lived in areas where water systems violated safety rules at the beginning of last year,
環保局數據顯示。去年年初，
according to data from the Environmental Protection Agency.
仍有超3000萬美國人生活在供水系統違反安全規定的地區。
Others simply cannot afford to keep water flowing.
其他人甚至連水費都負擔不起。
As with basically all environmental and climate issues,
和幾乎所有環境問題，氣候問題一樣，
poor people and minority communities are hit hardest.
受用水缺乏問題困擾最深的也是窮人和少數族裔社區。
In Denmark, S.C., local officials added the untested chemical HaloSan to drinking water,
在南卡羅來納州丹麥市，為了去除飲用水中存在的鐵銹樣的沉積物，
intending to combat rust-like deposits but leaving residents to deal with a slew of unexplained skin ailments.
當地官員便往飲用水中添加了未經測試的化學物質HaloSan，結果卻讓居民們染上了各種莫名其妙的皮膚病。
Suspicious of the water, Eugene "Horseman" Smith and his wife Pauline Ray Brown have collected samples for a decade,
抱著懷疑的心態，尤金·“騎士”史密斯和妻子波琳·雷·布朗開始收集當地的水樣，一收集就是10年，
sharing them with scientists and an attorney.
他們將收集到的樣本共享給了科學家和一位律師。
"Denmark is like a third-world country," says Smith.
“丹麥像個第三世界國家一樣，”史密斯說。
In Inez, Ky., residents still battle the remnants of millions of gallons of toxic sludge,
肯塔基州的伊內茲居民面對的則是數百萬加侖的有毒污泥，
replete with arsenic and mercury, that leaked into the water two decades ago.
那些淤泥富含砷和汞，還是20年前泄漏到他們的水系統里的。
Locals face liver and kidney damage, as well as increased risk of cancer.
當地居民不僅罹患癌癥的風險增加了，肝臟和腎臟也受到了損害。
譯文由可可原創，僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載。
