Flint Water Crisis I
Located in southeastern Michigan, Flint was met with a public health crisis from 2014 to 2019, when drinking water became contaminated by lead and the Legionella bacteria.
Historical Context
General Motors—one of the world’s largest automobile manufacturers—was founded in Flint in 1908. With the growth of the automobile industry, Flint experienced an economic boom, especially after World War II, as it quickly became a powerhouse for automobile manufacturing.
However, Flint’s overreliance on the automobile industry eventually contributed to its economic downturn in the mid 20th century. From 1978 to 2010, General Motors significantly reduced its workforce size in Flint from approximately 80,000 to 8000. This is attributed to offshore productions, automated manufacturing, loss of competitive advantage, etc.
Flint also experienced white flight as dominantly white residents moved into surrounding suburbs. The city population dropped by about 50% from approximately 200,000 in 1960 to 100,000 in 2010 (Denchak, 2018). Flint found itself in a financial crisis, experiencing a shrinking tax base from both the residents and the businesses, resulting in difficulties in maintaining basic services. With a much lower population than expected, costs per capita in providing basic services also increased drastically, resulting in compromised quality of basic services offered. This thus set the stage for the eventual Flint water crisis in 2014.
Political Context
With a $25 million deficit, Flint fell under state control, and emergency managers were appointed to oversee and cut costs for the city. In 2013, Flint officials decided that the city would obtain raw water through a new pipeline from Lake Huron rather than purchasing treated water from Detroit to cut costs. Flint had the option of purchasing treated water from Detroit during the construction period of this pipeline, but price negotiations fell through. Flint decided to use water from the Flint River, treating it at the Flint Water Service Center (Masten et al., 2016).
For context, the Flint River had been an unofficial waste disposal site for local industries for more than a century. Despite concerns and objections raised, Flint officials pushed through on the use of the Flint River as a drinking source. The Flint Water Service Center failed to treat the water adequately, resulting in lead leaching out from the aging pipes and contaminating the drinking source for the 100,000 residents.
In the next post, we will explore the social context, impacts, and responses concerning the Flint water crisis.
References
Denchak, M. (2018, November 8). Flint Water Crisis: Everything You Need to Know. NRDC. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/flint-water-crisis-everything-you-need-know
Masten, S. J., Davies, S. H., & McElmurry, S. P. (2016). Flint Water Crisis: What Happened and Why? Journal – American Water Works Association, 108, 22–34. https://doi.org/10.5942/jawwa.2016.108.0195