Report: Ex-Gov. Rick Snyder and Other Officials Face Prosecution in Flint Water Crisis – By Julia Craven (Slate) / January 12 2021
The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and other officials from his administration will face charges for their actions in the Flint water crisis.
Since 2014, residents of Flint, a predominantly Black city, have been using water that at one point was contaminated enough to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s definition of “toxic waste.” That year, officials within Snyder’s administration made the decision to switch the city’s water supply from Detroit municipal water to the Flint River in order to save money. The water from the river was not properly treated and old lead pipes began to leach. And residents, who had begun to complain that something wasn’t right with the water, were told by officials that it was fine.
This corner-cutting decision compounded decades of environmental racism experienced by the city’s residents, further exposed them to toxins, and left a number of residents to deal with horrific repercussions.
