Flint Switches to Corrosive River Water to Save Money, Poisoning Entire City

Officials in Flint, Michigan switch the city’s water supply from treated Detroit water (sourced from Lake Huron) to the polluted Flint River as a cost-cutting measure, beginning one of the worst public health disasters in modern American history. The decision, made by state-appointed emergency manager Darnell Earley, is intended to save approximately $5 million over two years while the city awaits connection to the Karegnondi Water Authority.

Catastrophically, officials fail to add corrosion inhibitors to the highly corrosive Flint River water—a decision that would save approximately $140 per day but expose an estimated 100,000 to 140,000 residents to lead poisoning. The corrosive water immediately begins leaching lead from aging pipes into the drinking water supply. Between 6,000 and 14,000 children are exposed to dangerous levels of lead, which causes irreversible neurological damage, reduced IQ, developmental delays, behavioral problems, and lifelong health consequences.

Residents immediately complain about discolored, foul-smelling water with a metallic taste, reporting rashes, hair loss, and other health problems. City and state officials dismiss their concerns for 18 months, insisting the water is safe to drink. The water switch also causes two Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks in 2014-2015 that kill 12 people and sicken 79 others.

The crisis exemplifies environmental racism: Flint is 57% Black, with over 40% of residents living below the poverty line. The Michigan Civil Rights Commission later concludes that “historical, structural and systemic racism combined with implicit bias” directly caused the crisis and inadequate governmental response. The emergency manager law that enabled this catastrophe had been disproportionately applied to predominantly Black cities, stripping democratic accountability at the precise moment when residents needed protection from their own government’s deadly cost-cutting measures.