The story of the poisoning of the water in Flint, Michigan, has become a dark fable about government negligence, woeful infrastructure, and the hubris of public officials. In April, 2014, the city switched its municipal water source from Detroit’s system to the infamously polluted Flint River, and neglected to add chemicals that would prevent lead from leaching from the city’s pipes into the water. We know now that the water was severely contaminated with lead and bacteria, but, for months, officials reassured residents that the water was safe and were dismissive of evidence to the contrary.
This interactive video, directed by Zackary Canepari and Jessica Dimmock, paints an impressionistic portrait of the lives of the people of Flint. Even before the water crisis hit, the once bustling auto town had become run down and dangerous. “It’s not a place to bring up kids anymore,” one woman says. The contaminated water made it nearly uninhabitable. We hear the voices of children who were warned not to drink from school water fountains, and of parents who saw their children fall inexplicably sick. In Canepari and Dimmock’s video—and in the interviews and background information contained in the interactive links—the people describe how the water crisis has touched every corner of their lives and fundamentally damaged their ability to trust their government.
This video is a collaboration between The New Yorker and Verse.
