A community that is already facing economic hardship and in poverty is facing a critical issue concerning its water supply. The water supply was full of lead which causes skin issues, leads to disease, and causing permanent brain damage for the people. The system should have been tested before it was passed, the state officials even with held results and changed records afterwards to try to cover up their mistake. The state is also fighting to stop providing clean water, a need to survive. The people in the city are fed up with the government neglect and have been protesting for clean water.

Flint, Michigan has been declared in a state of emergency. All of this has caused a very expensive water bill.

At first Flint, Michigan was doing well when General Motors opened in 1908 and built a plant in the city bringing thousands of people to the area to work, and building new houses and creating jobs; the city grew. Flint’s economy was doing well selling lots of cars and with most the people their working for the plant. Then in the 1990s General Motors filed for bankruptcy and closed their plant leaving a large population of people unemployed. When the plant closed, people moved elsewhere for work leaving vacant houses everywhere. Over 50 years the population of Flint, Michigan decreased by half. This caused an economic downfall, people stopped spending their money and started trying to save instead, causing other businesses to go bankrupt. “More than 41% of Flints residents live below the poverty level, according to the U.S. Census”. Lots of the people there are in poverty and unemployed, Flint, Michigan also has a higher than the national average rate for unemployment with it being twice as much in 2009.

A city in an economic depression turned to crime. Flint, Michigan has been known for 3 years in a row as the most violent city in America, top in the nation for violent crimes. The city has also been top in the nation for homicide before too. The streets of Flint, Michigan was not a safe place to be for any one, leaving a traumatized city. The city then started to burn, vacant houses from families that had moved out were burned. Cars were also torched, with an abundance of those since the bankruptcy of General Motors. Things didn’t seem like they could get any worse in Flint, Michigan.

In 2014 Flint, Michigan switched to a different water system, using water from the Flint river instead of the Detroit water system, pipes soon rusted and corroded leaving high traces of lead and other chemicals in the water. The water from the Flint river was full of lead and other chemicals, the water was not tested before using it. People from Flint have tested positive for high levels of lead in them. The water leaves long term brain damage and causes skin problems and other developmental diseases in children. "My kids are getting poisoned from something that's a necessity and as a parent there's nothing I can do to help them. It's already in them, I can't take it out, and there's no medicine for it." one parent said about the water crisis as she talked about its effects on her kids and the irreversible damage it causes on developing children, and how helpless she feels. Families are left bathing and cooking with bottled water to avoid using contaminated water. Over 50 lawsuits have been filed demanding compensation for medical bills and the stress its caused. Several are filing class action lawsuits against the “city and state officials responsible for the lead-poisoning crisis that has made Flint into a symbol of government failure and environmental disaster”

The President has declared Flint in a state of Emergency. City officials have since been charged with lying to federal agents, tampering with reports, and manipulating water tests results, which are felonies. When the water system changed, it was known to be possibly dangerous but instead of running proper tests they took a ‘wait and see’ approach. When tests were run the results were changed. The government failed to protect its people and now needs to be held responsible. A federal judge ordered Michigan to provide clean water to people. Michigan soon started to fight the ruling due to the high costs of providing bottled water, the average family uses 150 bottles of water a day. With that program ended people are left having to filter and boil their water, however the cost of water in Flint is highest in the nation, and double the state average. Some have claimed that the water reports are showing a decrease in the levels of lead in the water, however still above more than is safe. So how is it fair for an economically challenged area to be paying more for poisoned water?

The water crisis happening in Flint is a devastating example of a community already facing hard times still suffering. The people were neglected and treated unfairly and its something that needs to change. There basic human needs were not considered or protected and clean water is something everyone in the U.S. should have access to. The crisis in Flint, Michigan should have been avoided and is another tragedy those people didn’t need.