Multiple tests, both independent and government-run, have shown average lead levels dropping back below the federal action level as a result of switching the city from the highly corrosive Flint River back to the safe and clean Detroit water system.
But many of the city’s residents don’t much believe the water’s safe.
Because of decisions made by state-appointed emergency managers and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, they were forced to use water laced with dangerously high levels of lead, a potent neurotoxin, and contaminated by bacteria that cause Legionnaires’ disease, which claimed at least 12 lives during the 18 months the city used the Flint River as its municipal water source.
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, the Flint pediatrician who proved blood lead levels in children dramatically increased after the switch to the river, tweeted that bottled water should continue to be provided until all the city’s lead service lines are replaced.
In March 2015, Flint’s emergency manager refused to allow a return to Detroit’s system, saying there was no need because the water was “safe.” Then, a few months later, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality insisted the residents of Flint should just “relax” because extensive testing showed federal lead standards were being met, despite warnings from scientists that those tests were dangerously flawed.
For families who got sick believing official lies about the water, there are few reasons for faith in government now, especially when some of the very officials accused of playing a role in the crisis — including two health officials charged with involuntary manslaughter — remain on the job, while taxpayers finance their defense.
Emergency Manager In 2012, legislators passed an emergency manager law, which enabled the state to take complete control of Flint governance because of financial woes.
Multiple class action lawsuits and dozens of individual actions have been filed in an attempt to win some compensation for the damage done to residents of a city that is about 57 percent Black and has a poverty rate that hovers around 40 percent.
When everything’s accounted for, the emergency manager’s decision to save $5 million could easily end up costing taxpayers well over $1 billion.
If you ask the residents of Flint, they will tell you the crisis continues, regardless of what the governor says.