11.6.1: Flint Water Crisis
The story of the Flint Michigan water crisis is one of a human-made public health catastrophe that could have been avoided at several junctions. Flint, Michigan is a majority Black city. In 2014, 40% of the residents there lived in poverty (Murembya, & Guthrie, 2016). Flint was having a financial crisis, and an emergency manager was appointed by Michigan’s governor. One of the ways proposed to save money was to switch Flint’s water source: from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) to the Karegnondi Water Authority (KWA), which was building pipeline from Lake Huron - where Flint, Detroit and other towns already sourced their drinking water. Upon hearing of this plan, the DWSD terminated its contract with Flint effective 2014, but the KWA pipeline wouldn’t be ready until 2016 (Dixon, n.d., Kennedy, 2016). Until the pipeline was completed however, they needed an alternative water source for the city of Flint. For this, they turned to the Flint River, which had been the city’s water source up until the 1960’s (Kennedy, 2016).
Instead of treating the water or testing to ensure that the water would not corrode the city’s aging pipe system, city officials took a “wait and see” approach. Barely a month after the switch, residents in Flint began to complain about their tap water’s color and odor. Some people developed rashes or hair loss by showering or bathing in it (Runwal, 2024). By August, officials had detected E. coli bacteria, which prompted them to increase the chlorine levels and issue boil advisories to residents. Meanwhile, an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease, caused by the bacteria Legionella pneumophila, was correlated to the water source switch and improper chlorination (Zahran et al., 2018), causing the deaths of at least 12 people (Runwal, 2024). By January of 2015, other compounds (by products of disinfection which are carcinogenic) had also been found in the water - this violated the SDWA and forced the city to take some action (Kennedy, 2016).
In February, high levels of lead were found in the water of a resident’s home. While the EPA issued an internal memo expressing concerns about lead contamination, the city officials in the Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) downplayed the reports and insisted that Flint’s water was safe. Meanwhile, researchers from Virginia Tech University were finding dangerously high lead levels in the water supply and blood levels in children (Kennedy, 2016). Lead is a neurotoxin which is especially harmful for children: it can cause learning disabilities, behavioral problems, as well as affecting growth and potentially causing anemia or in some kids - seizures. If ingested by pregnant women it can harm the growth of the fetus and lead to premature birth. And in adults, exposure to lead is associated with cardiovascular, kidney, and reproductive problems (EPA, 2016). In September of 2015, the city finally issued a lead warning to the city, and in October a state of emergency was declared and Flint switched back to the Detroit water supply (Kennedy, 2016). But the hazards were not over.
The pipes that brought water to the city were old, and made of lead and galvanized iron. Since the Flint river already had higher levels of chloride, this began to corrode the pipes, and the chlorine added to reduce the E. coli bacteria corroded the pipes even more. By the time the water was switched back to the Lake Huron source, it was too late - in April of 2016 the water was declared still unsafe to drink by Virginia Tech researchers (Kennedy, 2016). Many Flint residents have continued to drink bottled water as the pipes are slowly replaced throughout the city - even though the free bottled water program ended in 2018 (Runwal, 2024). Many of the city and public health officials were criminally indicted for not following proper procedures and covering up reports of contamination, and even Governor Rick Snyder had charges related to his apparent inaction for 17 months during the water crisis. Yet many of these cases were thrown out on technicalities by the Michigan State Supreme Court, leaving Flint’s residents doubting anyone will be held accountable (White, 2022). The state of Michigan was ordered to pay out $600 million in a settlement to Flint’s residents - a portion of which will also cover legal fees (White, 2021).