The Flint Water Crisis and the Role of Professional Emergency Managers in Risk Mitigation

Abstract

A federal emergency was declared in Flint, Michigan on January 16, 2016 because of elevated lead levels in the city drinking water system. Resulting from a number of technical mistakes and a lack of oversight by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, this crisis may have implications for the professional practice of emergency management. This paper explores the relationship between critical infrastructure and disaster theory, reviews the Flint crisis as a representative case study, and presents recommendations for emergency managers to begin to assess the drinking water systems within their own communities. As this is a still-evolving event, the discussion is based on the extent of the information available to both researchers and the public primarily as of late Fall, 2016. Future researchers will need to evaluate records from upcoming court proceedings and file additional FOIA requests after all subpoenas have been lifted in order to analyze how both a large public water system and a state government could allow the omission of corrosion control.