Filmed on Tuesday, July 4 2023, I drive around Flint, MI to see what's going on.
In 1819, Jacob Smith, a fur trader, founded a trading post at the Grand Traverse of the river which was then called "Pawanunking" by the local tribe, or "River of Flint".
As the ideal stopover on the overland route between Detroit and Saginaw, Flint grew into a small but prosperous village and incorporated in 1855.
In the latter half of the 19th century, Flint became a center of the Michigan lumber industry. Revenue from lumber funded the establishment of a local carriage-making industry. As horse-drawn carriages gave way to the automobiles, Flint then naturally grew into a major player in the nascent auto industry.
In 1904, local entrepreneur William C. Durant was brought in to manage Buick, which became the largest manufacturer of automobiles by 1908. In 1908, Durant founded General Motors (GM), filing incorporation papers in New Jersey, with headquarters in Flint. GM moved its headquarters to Detroit in the mid-1920s.
For the last century, Flint's history has been dominated by both the auto industry and car culture. During the Sit-Down Strike of 1936-1937, the fledgling United Automobile Workers triumphed over General Motors, inaugurating the era of labor unions.
The city was a major contributor of tanks and other war machines during World War II due to its extensive manufacturing facilities. For decades, Flint remained politically significant as a major population center as well as for its importance to the automotive industry.
The city's population peaked in 1960 at almost 200,000, at which time it was the second largest city in the state. The decades of the 1950s and 1960s are seen as the height of Flint's prosperity and influence.
Since the late 1960s through the end of the 20th century, Flint has suffered from a series of crises.
Flint has suffered from disinvestment, deindustrialization, depopulation and urban decay, as well as high rates of crime, unemployment and poverty.
Since it's peak in 1960, Flint as lost more than half it's population.
GM employment in Flint has fallen from a 1978 high of 80,000 to just 700 people today.
The City of Flint as also suffered from mismanagement and a series of financial crises, resulting in the appointment of multiple Emergency City Managers between 2002-2015.
In 2014, during one of Flint's many financial crises, state-appointed emergency manager Darnell Earley changed Flint's water source from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (sourced from Lake Huron and the Detroit River) to the Flint River.
After the permanent switch to the Flint River, city residents began complaining about the color, taste, and odor of their water. In August and September 2014, city officials detected levels of coliform bacteria, so residents were advised to boil their water.
General Motors (GM) made the first complaint about the corrosivity of the water. GM stopped using Flint water in October 2014, after reporting that the water was corroding car parts. General Motors requested to switch back to the Detroit water source, which was later approved by city officials.
The MDEQ placed Flint on violation notice but did not reveal the information to residents until January 2015. The employees of the Flint Public Library declared the water undrinkable after noticing that it was discolored, despite the city's claim that the water was safe. January and February 2015 tests showed that the city water met all health and safety standards. Nevertheless, Detroit Water offered to reconnect Flint, waiving a $4 million connection fee, but was declined by new Emergency Manager Jerry Ambrose.
In March 2015, Flint voted to switch back to Detroit Water. Ambrose disagreed with the reintroduction of the Detroit water source. Ambrose argued, "Flint water today is safe by all Environmental Protection Agency and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality standards, and the city is working daily to improve its quality." In August 2015, it was found that local organizations observed that high concentrations of chloride caused the water to be orange and that the water contained high levels of lead.
Lead levels tested by the water utility never reached the EPA action level of 15ppb lead during the crisis, however the city did not know the locations of lead service lines, which city officials acknowledged in November 2015.
In September 2015, a team from Virginia Tech found that at least a quarter of households in Flint had levels of lead above the federal level of 15 ppb and that in some homes, lead levels were at 13,200 ppb.
To date, more than 25,000 service lines have been excavated, resulting in the replacement of 9,516 lead pipes.
The Flint Water Crisis led to several lawsuits, the resignation of several officials, and fifteen criminal indictments.
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