Although Flint lies mere miles away from the largest fresh-water lakes on the globe, they could not obtain the basic need of clean water. Budget cuts, lies, desperation and rash decisions have caused Michigan’s people to suffer irrevocable brain damage at the hands of their own government.

The root of the problem has been an occurrence for many years. The Michigan city has heavily relied on the auto industry in order to balance the city’s economy and keep it thriving. General Motors plants were essential for Flint’s prosperity. For the past few decades, GM plants have been shutting down. Without work, people relocated outside of Flint, cutting the population in half and driving the city into a destitute state. Back in 2011, Flint was an extremely poor city, owing over a billion dollars in funds and forced to  downsize the staff in law enforcement, human services, and government jobs.

Governor Rick Snyder then appointed financial experts in order to get the city back on its feet. This experts are not always the solution, as they can make budget-cutting changes and decisions without full political investigation. One proposal within a series of changes was to stop paying Detroit for water from Lake Huron and instead using the Flint River as a temporary water source. They switched in 2014.

Not long after, people began noticing that the water was unsafe to drink and use. The water running through taps was brown in color with a pungent odor. People began complaining and no longer wanted to pay for the dirty water the city provided them. City officials then reassured the people that federal tests proved the water safe to drink, although Flint residents knew that this was a false statement.

A member of the Environmental Protection Agency later leaked a Michigan report that stated that the water contained lead levels that were higher than normal drinking water. Virginia Tech stepped in and conducted an outside investigation. They discovered that water from the Flint River was contaminated and corrosive, eating away at the metal in the plumbing pipes and causing discolored water and unsafe lead levels. They concluded that 20% of all Flint homes had simply too much lead contamination in their water. Flint’s government then responded by buying the city water filters for their homes and switching back to Detroit water.

Although Flint no longer has unsafe water to drink, the damage has already been done. Flint pulled itself into debt by switching its water sources back to Detroit, costing $12 million alone. Health consequences will last multiple lifetimes. No level of exposure to lead is safe for the human body. This shows in several studies, comparing the number of health problems and crime rates before lead was removed from things paint, gas, pencils, and more to rates today. Lead poisoning lowers IQs, changes behaviors, and is linked with criminality. The effects will not necessarily keep with that one person. The effects of lead can affect multiple generations of a poisoned person. It’s evident that lead is highly toxic to the brain. Flint has subjected its citizens to irreversible damage. They will face a lawsuit.

Flint is still conducting blood tests and fear that the water may have gotten into systems of other midwestern states. In some parts of Ohio, officials are reporting high lead levels in the water supply. Doctors are most concerned with how many children are affected by lead exposure and if the neurotoxin is causing more widespread damage than predicted. More tests will be carried out and measures will be taken in order to assure that another water crisis does not happen again in the midwestern United States.