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Time | April 2014 | – present
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Duration | Ongoing |
Location | Flint, Michigan, United States |
Coordinates | 43°0′36″N 83°41′24″W / 43.01000°N 83.69000°WCoordinates: 43°0′36″N 83°41′24″W / 43.01000°N 83.69000°W |
Type |
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Participants | Residents of Flint, Michigan |
Outcome |
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Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha | |
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![]() Mona Hanna-Attisha
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Born |
Mona Hanna 1976 (age 40–41) Sheffield, England |
Alma mater |
University of Michigan (B.S., M.P.H.) Michigan State University (M.D.) |
Occupation | Pediatrician and professor |
Employer |
Hurley Medical Center (pediatrician) Michigan State University (professor) |
Known for | Uncovering the Flint Water Crisis |
Awards |
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Marc Edwards | |
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![]() Edwards testifying during the Flint water crisis hearing, March 2016
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Born | 1964 (age 52–53) |
Residence | Blacksburg, Virginia |
Nationality | American |
Education |
State University of New York at Buffalo (B.S.) University of Washington (M.S., Ph.D.) |
Occupation | Professor |
Employer | Virginia Tech |
Known for | Water-supply safety and engineering |
Home town | Buffalo, New York |
Title | Charles P. Lunsford Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering |
Term | August 23, 2004–present |
Predecessor | Clifford Randall |
Board member of | Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (president, 2001–2005) |
Children | 2 |
Awards |
MacArthur Fellow, 2007 Outstanding Faculty Award, 2007 Praxis Award in Professional Ethics, 2010 |
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The Flint water crisis began in 2014 when the Flint River became the drinking water source for the city of Flint, Michigan. Due to insufficient water treatment, over 100,000 residents were potentially exposed to high levels of lead in the drinking water. A federal state of emergency was declared in January, 2016 and Flint residents were instructed to use only bottle or filtered water for drinking and bathing. As of early 2017, the water quality had returned to acceptable levels, however residents were instructed to continue to use bottled or filtered water until all the lead pipes have been replaced, which is expected to be completed no sooner than 2019.
The Flint water crisis is an ongoing drinking water contamination issue in Flint, Michigan, United States, that started in April 2014. After Flint changed its water source from treated Detroit Water and Sewerage Department water (which was sourced from Lake Huron as well as the Detroit River) to the Flint River (to which officials had failed to apply corrosion inhibitors), its drinking water had a series of problems that culminated with lead contamination, creating a serious public health danger. The Flint River water that was treated improperly caused lead from aging pipes to leach into the water supply, causing extremely elevated levels of the heavy metal neurotoxin. In Flint, between 6,000 and 12,000 children have been exposed to drinking water with high levels of lead and they may experience a range of serious health problems. Due to the change in water source, the percentage of Flint children with elevated blood-lead levels may have risen from about 2.5% in 2013 to as much as 5% in 2015. The water change is also a possible cause of an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in the county that has killed 10 people and affected another 77.