Poison in the water.

• Author: Brown, Bryan
• Position: Flint, Michigan

Tens of thousands of people in the city of Flint, Michigan, were exposed to toxic lead in their tap water. How could this happen?

Residents of Flint, Michigan, couldn't believe their eyes--or noses. What was the brown liquid coming out of their faucets and why did it smell so disgusting? It was the summer of 2014, and the city had recently switched to a new water source--the Flint River. Before long, some people developed rashes or began complaining of headaches. Others lost clumps of hair in the shower. At the General Motors factory, which used the city's water, engine parts were corroding.

"It tastes funny, and it stains the tub," Zaricka Reeves, 19, told the local paper, The Flint Journal, around that time.

Despite the warning signs, government officials denied anything was wrong. For a year and a half, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, which oversaw the testing of the water, insisted the water was safe and there was nothing to worry about.

But that all changed in September 2015. A local pediatrician announced that the number of children in Flint with elevated levels of lead in their blood had almost doubled since the water switch, according to her blood tests. The finding was alarming; lead is a toxic metal known to cause permanent brain damage, especially in young kids (see box, p. 11).

About a week after that revelation, Michigan authorities finally changed their tune and admitted what the residents had known all along: There was a terrible problem with the water in Flint.

State of Emergency

The water of the Flint River, officials now say, is highly corrosive. As it traveled through the city's aging pipes, many of which contain lead, the water ate away at the pipes, absorbing the lead before pouring out of showerheads and kitchen taps.

On October 16, Flint switched back to its previous water supply. But by then, the damage was done. Pipes throughout the city are so corroded that they'll likely continue to deposit lead into the water, regardless of the source.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder now acknowledges that the situation in Flint is a "catastrophe." As many as 8,000 children under age 6--those most at risk for serious harm--were exposed to unsafe levels of lead. Federal and state investigations have been announced, and some are calling for state officials, including the governor, to go to prison. President Obama has declared a state of emergency in Flint, opening the door for the federal government to provide millions of dollars of aid to the city.

"If I was a parent [there], I would be beside myself that my kids' health could be at risk," Obama said. "It is a reminder of why you I can't shortchange basic services that we provide to our people."

Now lawmakers and citizens around the country are asking: How is it possible that government failed the people of Flint so miserably?

42 Percent Poverty

It all began as an effort to save money, a chronic concern in cash-strapped Flint. The birthplace of General Motors, Flint was once a prosperous auto industry hub--until manufacturing jobs moved abroad (see box, below). Today, the city's population, fewer than 100,000, is about half what it was in 1960, and nearly 42 percent of its residents live in poverty.

In 2011, when Governor Snyder took office, Flint was millions of dollars in debt, so he appointed a series of emergency managers to take control of the city's finances. Under Michigan law, these unelected managers have veto power over the mayor and city council.

Water seemed like a logical option for cost/ cutting. For decades, Flint got its water from the Ely system in nearby Detroit, but it was expensive. So in spring 2013, officials agreed to join efforts to create a regional system that would draw water from Lake Huron, about 75 miles away. It would be more cost-effective, but the pipeline wouldn't be ready until mid-2016. In the meantime, the Flint River was chosen as an interim water supply. And for some reason, officials decided not to add chemicals that would have prevented old pipes from corroding and leaching metals like lead into the water.

On the day the switch was made to the Flint River in April 2014, officials toasted each other with tap water at a ceremony...