The problem in Flint started long before the water main switch. The city of Flint was built around the GM industry. Meaning the neighborhood relied on the success of the manufacturing company. The company brought many jobs to the community fostering a population growth in Flint. This created a bigger infrastructure to sustain the people in the city. This resulted in the city switching to Detroit water system because their system could not produce enough safe drinking water for the community. When the factory closed it created an economic down turn, placing many residents into unemployment, creating a financial crisis in Flint. The city was broke, homelessness increased and job opportunities diminished. People began fleeing Flint creating a decline in population. Because the infrastructure was designed for a large population, the tax roles were unable to cover water and sewer. This resulted in the city declaring bankruptcy. Neighborhoods were left vacant, homes were demolished, and the crime rate went thru the roof. The city of Flint was financially unstable and could not afford the infrastructure that it housed.
The Flint River had served as an unofficial waste disposal site for many of the local industries over the last century. The waterway also received raw sewage from the city’s waste treatment plant, agricultural, urban runoff, and toxics from lead in landfills. Pollution in Flint, Michigan can be dated back as far as 1930 when the city was known for their auto industry manufacturing. They produced batteries, paints, lacquers, enamels, and gasoline these by-products were released into the city’s air, soil, and water. “The Flint River carries the toxic effluent of a city that was at one time an industrial Mecca and economic powerhouse.” (Lindsey J. Butler, et al. pg.94) Over the years, the auto industry diminished and took much of the cities economic success with it. November 2011, the state of Michigan appointed the Local Financial and Stability of Choice Act to replace the city government with an Emergency Manager. This law was designed to protect the financial accountability of the local government. The problem with this law was that there was no longer any accountability by elected officials. This law was responsible for the failure in protecting the public health in 2014.
On April 25, 2014 officials of Flint, Michigan decided to cut cost and switch their cities water from Detriot to their own Flint river. The plan, according to Flint, required switching supplies from Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to the Karengnondi Water Authority. The pipeline would connect Lake Huron to Flint using the Flint water plant to treat the water. Flint could not come up with a third of this money in order to create the pipeline. As this was going on there was a conflict between Detroit and Flint because Detroit was going through its own financial problems and could not afford their water and sewer plant. They decided to increase the purchasing price for Flint creating an economic strain on the city. This left Flint with only one option, going back to their own water source. At the time, this topic brought up a lot of controversy because many believed Flint could not produce clean water. Before the switch, water supply engineers were sent to the plant to investigate the structure to insure safe water for the people. These engineers, and other researches, estimated the cost of upgrades to be around 60 million dollars to properly treat the water. However, the city was already bankrupt and did not have the funds to support the needed repairs. The state decided to give the city 5 million dollars to spend on plant upgrades. Now a 60 million dollar repair job turned into a 5 million fixer upper. This made it impossible to complete nearly half of the repairs needed. The council voted to switch water system. However, their votes did not mean anything due to the fact the state was in control. The state decided to push the switch forward with an April launch date. By May, the city had received an abundance of complaints from the majority of its population of African American and poor citizens.
Soon after the city began supplying residents with Flint river water residents complained about the smell coming from their tap.The water began to turn a yellowish color in which many citizens brought to officials who still stated that the water was safe. In August, E. coli and coliform bacteria was detected in Flint’s water as well as elevated lead levels.
Use this link to watch a documentary to learn more about the horrors of Flint’s water system. https://umassd.kanopy.com/video/flint-s-deadly-water