Seven families in Flint, Michigan, have filed a class-action lawsuit citing gross negligence at the hands of Gov. Rick Snyder in response to the effects of the city’s lead-contaminated water crisis.
In April of 2014, Flint switched its water source from Detroit Water and Sewage Department to the Flint River. Due to high concentrations of chloride in the river, the main iron water pipes suffered excessive corrosion, causing extremely elevated levels of lead in the water. To add insult to injury, a report found that residents of Flint paid more for their water than anyone else in the country while the water was contaminated.
The city of Flint wasn’t always so broken down. Flint was the beacon of the auto industry from the early 1900’s to the mid 1980’s. This was in large part due to the presence of industry titan General Motors (one of Fair360, formerly DiversityInc’s 2015 Top 25 Noteworthy Companies), which was formed in 1908. That year, Flint’s population was 38,000, and as the automobile industry grew, Flint thrived and by 1960, the city had a population of 196,000.
