Flint Water Crisis: Continued

Flint Water Crisis 10 year anniversary

April 25, 2024 by Chayton Harris

Flint (DTV) – (4/25/2024) – 10 years ago on April 25th, 2014 a cost saving decision to switch the city of Flint’s water source to the Flint River, forever changed the city. A city stripped of democracy was poisoned by lead-tainted water that came right from their faucets. Lies, government denial, sick children, deaths, and a lack of justice dominated the headlines for years. Nearly 100,000 people were affected and the city of Flint has still not finished fixing all of the damage caused by the switch.

Over the past decade DTV has continued to report on the crisis and make sure the stories of the people of Flint are heard. Despite the hardships, the Flint people have risen up showing love, leadership, passion, and most importantly…resilience. In our latest special Undrinkable 3: Resilience you will hear about the lack of justice and broken trust, but you will also learn about a city pulling together and creating positive changes for the future of Flint.

Under the Undrinkable 3 tab you can also watch all 3 DTV Undrinkable specials along with Key moments from the crisis, individual stories from Undrinkable 3, a page for resources , additional content and full-length interviews from this year’s special.

No Justice In Flint Water Investigation

November 1, 2023 by Cooper Austin

DAVISON (DTV) – (11/1/2023) – The Michigan Supreme Court has denied appeals from a lower court, completely dismissing the criminal charges against former Governor Rick Snyder and previously 8 other government officials connected to the Flint Water Crisis. The ruling took place after Attorney General Dana Nessel’s appointed prosecutors Fadwa Hammoud and Kym Worthy used a one-person grand jury in these cases which the Michigan Supreme Court invalidated.

DTV asked Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel about justice for the people of Flint recently, and the Attorney General had no update and walked away from our interview.

Dana Nessel walks away from DTV interview

The Flint Prosecution Team released a statement Tuesday evening stating, “Today, our Supreme Court has put the final nail in the coffin of the Flint Water prosecutions. The Court decided that a process that has stood in place for over a century, one whose legitimacy the Court upheld repeatedly, was simply not ‘good enough’ to hold those responsible for the Flint Water Crisis accountable for their actions. Our disappointment in the Michigan Supreme Court is exceeded only by our sorrow for the people of Flint.”Current Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley has pointed to the fact that the strategy of a one-man jury has been used many times, and justice has not been served due to a technicality.

Back in 2016, former Attorney General Bill Schuette announced charges against top government officials, including manslaughter. However, he did not charge former Governor Rick Snyder. When Dana Nessel was elected Attorney General, she dropped all charges in the Flint Water investigation and launched her own cases, including one against the former Governor. After almost a decade of promises from both Schuette and Nessel, it now appears that there will be no one held criminally accountable for the Flint Water Crisis.

Flint Water Charges under Bill Schuette

More Bill Schuette Charges

Criminal Charges Under Dana Nessel

All Charges have now been dropped in the Flint water investigation.

State of Michigan plans on charging Ex-Governor Rick Snyder

January 12, 2021 by DTV Staff

DAVISON (DTV) – (1/12/2021) -Several breaking news stories came out today regarding the Flint Water Crisis, including information leaked about possible charges against Rick Snyder and others of his office, the settlement for victims, and the McClaren Flint hospital dealing with legionella for a decade:

Rick Snyder’s possible charges:

Information has surfaced about criminal charges against Michigan ex-governor Rick Snyder and others surrounding the Flint Water Crisis, via the Associated Press. Anonymous sources from the Michigan Attorney General’s office, say that the former governor and other members of his administration will be officially charged.

More information is expected to be announced this Thursday, but for now, the specific charges are not yet known. 18 months ago all charges were dropped by attorney general Dana Nessel, and a new investigation was launched after new evidence surfaced.

The Settlement:

641.2 million is the total amount of compensation coming to the victims of the Flint Water Crisis. As of November 17th, the City of Flint, McLaren Regional Medical Center, and Rowe Professional Services have agreed to settle the massive class-action lawsuit.. 80% of the 641.2 million will be given to the children of Flint for injuries and illnesses caused by lead-tainted drinking water in the city.

Legionnaires Disease outbreak cause:

New Information reveals that McLaren Flint Hospital has had cases of legionella bacteria growth for more than a decade. Legionella is a pneumonia type bacteria that causes Legionnaires disease. In recent years it has made headline after headline while being associated with multiple deaths in the Flint Water Crisis. However, a report that WJRT-ABC12 uncovered that was created by the CDC states that McLaren had Legionella bacteria in its water since 2008, six years before the Flint Water was switched. 13 months after this report was made it was released to ABC12 through a former state health director. Legionella was detected in Mclaren’s water again in 2017 and 2019 in places like ice machines, shower heads, and even faucets. Of 90 cases reported in 2014-2015, the common thread was McLaren. Then, from January 2018-June 2019, 5 people who contracted the disease, including 2 that died, were believed to contract it from McLaren as well.

Karen Weaver, the former Mayor of Flint, said this over Twitter:

Remember when Snyder told Flint to “get over it”?! Now he can go think on his own words! https://t.co/ujxoyMQ2OA

— Former Mayor, Dr. Karen Williams Weaver (@karenaboutflint) January 12, 2021