Michigan Finally Confirms Lead Problem and Advises Filters—18 Months After Poisoning Began

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) reviews data from Hurley Medical Center and finally verifies what residents have been saying for 18 months: Flint’s water is poisoning children with lead. The state begins testing drinking water in schools and distributing free water filters—actions that should have been taken immediately after residents first complained in April 2014.

This belated acknowledgment comes only after independent researchers—Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha and Virginia Tech’s Marc Edwards—publicly released studies that state and city officials could no longer deny. On September 25, 2015, the City of Flint had issued a lead advisory urging residents to flush tap water and use only cold water for drinking and cooking, but provided no filters or alternative water supply.

On October 2, 2015, when MDHHS confirms the findings, the Genesee County Health Department and United Way finally begin distributing water filters—a year and a half after the poisoning began. By this point, between 6,000 and 14,000 children have been exposed to elevated lead levels, suffering irreversible neurological damage that will affect them for life.

The 18-month delay represents a catastrophic failure of government at every level. State and city officials had received numerous warnings: residents’ complaints starting in April 2014, GM’s decision to stop using the water in October 2014, EPA water quality expert Miguel Del Toral’s memo in February 2015 warning of lead contamination, LeeAnne Walters’ test results showing hazardous waste levels of lead. At each point, officials chose to deny, dismiss, and conceal rather than protect public health.

The delay also reveals the mechanics of environmental racism: wealthy, predominantly white communities would never have been forced to drink water that corroded car parts for 18 months while officials insisted it was safe. The disproportionate harm to Flint’s Black residents—who comprise 57% of the population and over 40% live in poverty—reflects systemic racism in which Black lives and Black children’s futures are treated as acceptable losses in pursuit of cost savings.