Environmental (In)justice at the State Level: The Flint Water Crisis

• In Event: State and Corporate Environmental Crime Victimization

Abstract

Beginning in April of 2014, the city of Flint, Michigan began using the Flint River as a temporary water source while a new water pipeline was being constructed. Almost immediately residents noticed a change in their water, as well as their health. It was nearly a year and a half later before the state government officially recognized the issue and began to offer aid to the residents of Flint. This paper examines the failures of several governmental agencies and actors to protect the residents of Flint, Michigan from toxic levels of lead in the local water system. The research considers both the actions and inactions of government on multiple levels, examining the offense as both a state crime and an issue of environmental justice.

Author

• Jacquelynn Doyon-Martin, Grand Valley State University