Reference no: EM133785090

Assignment:

Regarding the below case study with cited references.

• Explain if this is a case of administrative evil in action. Why or why not?
• Discuss if you think that the residents of Flint were treated differently because they are poor and African American.
• Describe how much blame the governor should accept for the crisis.

Case Study

Poisoning Flint Michigan

Providing clean water should be no problem in Flint Michigan. After all, the town is only an hour or so away from Lake Huron, the third-largest source of fresh water in the world. Imagine, then, the surprise of Flint residents when they turned on their taps and foul looking, tasting, and smelling water poured out. One day, the liquid would be blue, the next day, green, and the following day, brown or yellow. Citizens began breaking out in rashes after bathing and losing clumps of hair. Some compared the smell of their tap water to the odor of gasoline or the inside of a fish market.

Flint's problems with its water began in 2014, when the city of 100,000, which had previously tapped into Detroit's water system, began drawing water from the Flint River in order to save money as it waited for a new water tunnel to be built. Flint River water contains high levels of chloride, the same chemical found in road salt that corrodes the metal in cars. Water treatment officials failed to add an agent that would prevent the river water from corroding the city's lead pipes and releasing lead into the system. (The estimated cost of treating the water was $100-$200 per day.) General Motors soon stopped using Flint River water to wash automobile parts because doing so damaged them.

Health concerns mounted as the city continued using Flint River water. The number of cases of Legionnaires' disease-a serious pneumonia linked to the toxic water-spiked, sickening 91 residents and killing 12. Health researchers discovered high levels of lead in the blood of the city's children. Lead is a neurotoxin that does long-term physical damage. (There is no safe amount of lead in the human body, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.) In young children, lead causes behavioral problems and slows cognitive development. The chemical can cause liver and kidney problems in adults.

For 19 months, state and federal officials failed to respond to the water crisis. They acted only after the national press focused on Flint's plight. Governor Rick Snyder apologized, acknowledging that federal, state, and local leaders broke the trust of Flint residents and pledged to take action to correct the problem. He then ordered law enforcement and fire officials to begin delivering bottled water, water filters, and test kits door to door and fired the supervisor of the state's water program. At the same time, the city stopped taking water from the Flint River. But even as these steps were being taken, Flint residents continued to pay some of the highest water bills in the nation for a product that could harm or kill them. The Michigan legislature agreed to reimburse Flint citizens for a portion of their water bills but the program expired. The state and federal government funded pipe replacement. However, at last report, it will be years before Flint will receive an "all clear," letting citizens drink directly from their taps. Until then residents must use water filters and bottled water for cooking, brushing their teeth, and bathing.

What went wrong in Flint? Administrative evil may be to blame. Top officials in Michigan believed in a rational approach to public administration. Then governor Snyder, a former accountant and CEO who had never held office before being elected governor, billed himself as a no-nonsense problem solver with a businesslike approach to running the government. (He ran for office using the slogan "One Tough Nerd.") Once in office, he appointed a series of emergency managers who took control of Flint away from local elected officials. One of the emergency administrators made the decision to use the Flint River water while awaiting the completion of the new water tunnel. Another overruled the city council when it first wanted to return to Detroit's water supply.

Diffused responsibility and compartmentalization were also at work. The State Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) misinterpreted Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations that required the use of the corrosion treatment but federal EPA officials (who had the authority to force the city to comply) failed to enforce the law. Instead, EPA managers waited for the city to act, saying at one point, "the ball is in the city's court."1 State officials refused to let the Centers for Disease Control-the world's leading authority on infectious diseases-investigate the Legionnaires' outbreak.

When concerns were raised about Flint's water, state officials were quick to deny and attack. The governor's spokesman assured residents that their concerns were unfounded: "Let me start here-anyone who is concerned about lead in the drinking water in Flint can relax."2 An EPA water specialist who raised the alarm about lead levels in the water was called a "rogue employee" by his supervisors. The DEQ and Department of Community Health accused Flint residents of using their children's health for political gain, claiming "some in Flint are taking the very sensitive issue of children's exposure to lead and trying to turn it into a political football."3 Dr. Eden Wells, the chief medical officer of Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, allegedly threatened to withhold state funding from a Flint community health group if it didn't stop its investigation into the Legionnaires' outbreak. When told that another Legionnaires' outbreak was likely and that people would die, her boss, Health and Human Services director Nick Lyon, reportedly said he "can't save everyone," and "everyone has to die of something."4

Many in Flint believe that they were ignored because their town is largely black and poor, putting them on the margins of society. (The median income of Flint is half that of the state average, and 40% of residents live below the poverty line.) They are particularly bitter toward the former governor. Said one resident: "We're poor. And because we don't have anybody on our side that has any clout, Snyder didn't care."5 A number of observers believe that this tragedy would never have taken place in one of the wealthy white communities in Michigan. Then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton drove this point home, noting, "What happened in Flint is immoral. The children of Flint are just as precious as the children of any part of America."

Justice may be coming for the residents of Flint. The Michigan Attorney General brought charges against six officials, declaring "that people would want to sweep this away and that there are nameless, faceless bureaucrats who caused this and no one responsible is outrageous."7 Five officials, including Lyon and Wells, are charged with involuntary manslaughter for failing to stop the Legionnaires' epidemic. Other charges include obstruction of justice and lying to investigators. However, the former governor has not been charged with any crime, despite calls from some critics to do so.