“It could be five years from now, and I’ll still never drink this water.”
Four years ago, the city of Flint changed its water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River. Almost immediately, foul-smelling, discolored water began coming out of city taps. For almost two years, the mostly low-income and black residents were left to cook, drink, and bathe in water that was contaminated with lead. The crisis led to criminal charges leveled at more than a dozen state and city officials, thousands of children with dangerous levels of lead in their bloodstreams, and the collapse of confidence between residents and their government.
Now, at the fourth anniversary of the water crisis, state and city officials say the crisis has ended and Flint’s water is safe to drink. But residents aren’t buying it.


















