Five years since the poisoning of Flint’s water supply: Part one
This is the first of a two-part series drawing a balance sheet of five years of the water crisis in Flint, Michigan.
James Brewer•
The water crisis in Flint, Michigan
As officials end subsidies and resume water cutoffs
Michigan blames Flint water crisis on racism: Part one
A 138-page report on the Flint water crisis delivered on February 7 covers up the class issues in the poisoning of the city.
James Brewer•
Who’s who in the Flint water crisis: Part one
The first part of our series profiling the major figures behind the crisis focuses on those who laid the groundwork for the switch from the treated Lake Huron water supplied by Detroit.
Carlos Delgado•
Banks, bondholders driving the legal conflict over Flint’s water supply
Few Flint residents believe the claims of the governor and mayor that the 30-year deal to buy water from Detroit is motivated by concerns for the people of Flint. But what are the real issues behind the legal conflict with the City Council?
Sheila Brehm, Jerry White•
Jerry White•
Andre Damon•
Kate Randall•
our reporter•
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10 years since the lead poisoning of Flint, Michigan water supply
Ten years after the disastrous switch of the city of 100,000's water supply it is more than apparent that this was a bipartisan crime in which the Obama Administration’s policies played a central role.
•James Brewer
Study finds nearly 70 percent of Chicago’s children under 6 are exposed to lead contaminated drinking water
Recent study finds that close to 70 percent of children under six in Chicago are exposed to lead in their tap water. Studies conducted on blood lead levels and children have demonstrated there is no level of lead, a known neurotoxin, that can be deemed safe.
•Benjamin Mateus
One week after Flint teachers’ sickout, school board refuses to pay contractual wages
The Flint school board is stonewalling teachers’ demands instead offering to renegotiate an existing settlement to force through further budget cuts. For its part, the union has refused to honor the teachers’ strike vote and is participating in talks.
•Lawrence Porter, Nancy Hanover
“I’d like to live in a world where I work one job”: Flint, Michigan teachers vote to strike after sickout over pay and conditions
Teachers have faced years of poverty wages and struggle with inadequate resources to help students in the city made infamous for its lead-laced water.
•Lawrence Porter, Mitch Marcus, Nancy Hanover
Flint, Michigan teachers organize sickout over district’s decision to overturn pay raises
Classes in Flint were cancelled Wednesday after 119 teachers called in sick after their contract, which included the first pay raises in years, was unilaterally abrogated.
•Our reporters
“My pay has been frozen since 2014”
Flint, Michigan teachers, living in poverty, outraged over school board’s revoking of labor contract
The United Teachers of Flint has not called a strike vote, instead calling for closing schools and selling buildings.
•Mitch Marcus
Cases closed on Flint water crisis criminal prosecutions without any convictions
Following the rejection of its appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court, state prosecutors declared an end to the effort to hold former Governor Rick Snyder and others to account for the lead poisoning of the working class city of 100,000.
•James Brewer
Biden administration infrastructure council advises removing barriers to privatization of water utilities
The report recommends that the Biden administration “remove barriers to privatization, concessions, and other nontraditional models of funding community water systems.”
•Alex Findijs
Flint, Michigan mother arrested, fined $350 for the “crime” of stealing vitamins
The quick judgment against Samantha is a stark contrast with the failure to prosecute anyone associated with the poisoning of Flint's water in 2014.
•James MacDonald
Michigan Democratic Governor Whitmer signs state budget, automakers cash in
With Michigan under Democratic Party control for the first time in 40 years, the new budget enshrines billions for big business, no relief for workers.
•Nancy Hanover
Flint, Michigan workers warn East Palestine residents: “You can’t trust the government!”
The WSWS recently spoke to workers from Flint about the comparison of the disastrous derailment in eastern Ohio and the ongoing Flint water crisis which was set into motion nearly nine years ago.
•Sheila Brehm
A travesty of justice
Judge drops all charges against former Michigan Governor Snyder for his role in the Flint water crisis
The dismissal of the charges against Snyder essentially shuts the door on the prosecution of those responsible for a massive social crime, which resulted in at least 100 deaths, countless miscarriages, emotional and mental developmental problems in tens of thousands of children and countless lifelong illnesses.
•Sheila Brehm
Court dismisses criminal charges against Flint water crisis defendants
Genesee Circuit Judge Elizabeth Kelly had been expected to dismiss the charges after the Michigan Supreme Court ruled in July that the indictments had been arrived at improperly.
•James McDonald
Michigan lifts “no contact” recommendation two weeks after spill of toxic chemicals into Huron River
Residents have every right to remain skeptical about the investigation’s results, especially given the record of the company responsible for the spill, as well as the role played by state officials in past water safety disasters.
•Judy Ryden
State of emergency declared in Metro Detroit following failure of huge water transmission main
A 10-foot wide water tunnel connecting the northeastern suburbs of Detroit to the Great Lakes Water Authority intake facility at Lake Huron failed on Saturday, prompting Michigan Governor Whitmer to declare a state of emergency a day later.
•Kevin Reed
Cancer-causing chemicals dumped into Huron River threaten water safety of Michigan residents
The repeated episodes of water poisoning across Michigan are crimes of capitalism, which prioritizes profit over the well-being, health and safety of the population.
•Judy Ryden, James McDonald
Michigan approves plan to impose millions in fees on victims of dam failures
Over two years after three dam failures in Central Michigan, those responsible walk free while thousands of residents remain scarred by the damage.
•Luke Galvin
Residents outraged after former Governor Snyder and others responsible for Flint water poisoning let off the hook by Michigan Supreme Court
The decision by government officials, Democratic and Republican alike, to switch to using the toxic Flint River in 2014 without adding anti-corrosion treatment was, until the COVID-19 pandemic, the biggest public health catastrophe in US history.
•Sheila Brehm
An educator speaks out: “My heart hurts for my kids.”
Flint, Michigan schoolchildren and educators: Poisoned by lead, devastated by COVID
The children of Flint, Michigan—the birthplace of General Motors which once boasted the highest per capita income in the US--have been doubly victimized by lead poisoning and Covid. An educator recounts her experiences to the WSWS.
•Nancy Hanover
“The worst is the fatigue, it feels like I have 500 pounds strapped to me”
Retired workers suffering from Long COVID in Flint, Michigan, speak to the Global Workers’ Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic
Ed, a retired auto worker, and Tammy, a retired care worker, have been “living with” COVID-19 for two years, and they’ve had enough.
•Tim Rivers, Evan Blake