Poisonous stimulus: Flint water crisis.

• Author: Dalmia, Shikha
• Position: Citings - Lead poisoning in Flint, Michigan - Brief article

Conventional wisdom has it that Flint's lead poisoning crisis is the result of austerity measures imposed on the city by a fiscally conservative state government. And indeed, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder appointed an emergency manager in 2011 to help the city balance its books and avoid bankruptcy. But one of the real culprits may have been a misguided effort to stimulate the local economy through increased government spending.

The mess occurred because Flint decided to switch from the Detroit Water and Sewage Department (DWSD) to the Karegnondi Water Authority (KWA). The KWA was planning to build an expensive pipeline from Lake Huron to the Genesee County area, where Flint is located. But the city's contract with DWSD ended before the new facility had come online, so Flint authorities senselessly opted to reopen in the interim a mothballed local facility that relied on the toxic Flint River for water.

Documents show Flint's emergency manager had...