In recent days, Flint Michigan received an emergency declaration from the President. Here are some details, from CNN, on what is involved in remediating the crisis. No simple fix: Infrastructure, health issues loom large in Flint water crisis
Updates:
- Fix Flint’s Water Problem Now; Jan. 24.
- NY Times editorial notes Depraved Indifference. Jan. 22
- Huffington Post: How Flint’s Water Got Poisonous.
- Fortune magazine: Blames the Bureaucrats
Recovery Diva 
I’ve previously looked at Flint. In 2013 I pointed at Flint as the next potential Detroit:
“Flint, MI (primarily economic disruption). It’s somewhat unfair to describe Flint as “fragile;” it is at least as much of a basket case as Detroit, just not as widely recognized. The highest out-migration of any of the cities I looked at; highest crime rates in the country; boarded up homes; leadership that seems intent only on pointing the finger at whoever is the “guilty party” de jour [the economy, those who moved to the suburbs, the state…]; high unemployment; huge obligations that can’t possibly be met; and poor air quality.”
And this was in 2013, before the changes in the water supply. While I find the claims that the water caused the spike in Legionnaire’s disease somewhat dubious, there is no doubt that both the state-appointed “emergency manager” [handling the city’s financial crisis] and the state DEQ bear much of the blame for the water crisis. The email record indicates that the Governor (or at least his staff) suspected that he wasn’t getting the straight story from the state’s DEQ director, who was subsequently “resigned.” In all of this, I find no basis for Senator Sanders’ call for the Governor to resign, but worry about where the $1.5 B to fix the pipes is going to come from.
I do feel sorry for the residents.
And that is a stiff bill to fix the damage.