Flint Water Case Study

The residents of Flint, Michigan knew that something was wrong when their water began to look, smell, and taste strange (Shafer 23). Their city manager had recently ordered that their water source would be switch from Lake Huron to the Flint River in order to save money (Puchalski). In 2015, it would be discovered that the water contained dangerous levels of lead (Leber). The Flint residents had been drinking, cleaning with, and cooking with toxic water. They were advised to rely on bottled water until the issue was resolved. However, a solution did not come quickly, and the citizens had poisonous water running through their pipes for over two years. Lead poisoning could lead to adults becoming ill and children developing neurological disabilities

The public, local elected officials, Michigan’s Department of Environmental Equality, and the Environmental Protection Agency were not involved in the project (Puchalski). When one single person is responsible for such a complicated and important decision, there is a high risk of devastating mistakes being made. At the very least, other elected officials and a team of environmental scientists should have been involved in the planning of the project. It would have also been beneficial to hold public forums and allow the residents to discuss their thoughts. However, the city manager did not allow anyone else to have input in the switching of the water source. Further, the residents of Flint were complaining about the look and taste of their water, but their complaints were ignored (Shafer 23). These concerns should have raised red flags. The government officials chose not to listen to the public, though. They insisted that the water was safe because that was what their tests had shown (Leber). Had the government been transparent by being open about what they were doing concerning the water source for Flint and allowed a conversation to take place between the government, the experts, and the citizens, the water crisis could have been avoided or

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) concluded that a wealthier neighborhood would not have been subject to the poisonous water for such an extended period of time (Almasy and Ly). 40% of the Flint residents live below the poverty line and almost 60% of them are black. Thus, Flint becomes a black town which is invisible to white government officials (Shafer 23-24). It is undeniable that the government would never have been so careless as they were throughout the crisis in Flint if a primarily white area had been concerned. There would have been outrage. Conscious or subconscious racism and discrimination caused government officials to act as if Flint was a city which did not matter. They were able to allow residents to be poisoned and harmed because society still sees black people as inferior to white people, and the government officials did not think that it would impact their reputation or career if this town was receiving lead-contaminated water. These biases of government explain the lack of transparency and failure to meet protocols during the Flint Water