What went wrong in Flint?

February 4th, 2016 by Dakota Software Staff Industry News

The extreme long-term burden facing residents and businesses in Flint, Michigan is a very sad situation and one that highlights the need for decision-makers to both understand complex environmental regulations and have strong, broad insight into process changes. The presence of unsafe levels of lead in the drinking water in Flint was caused by a variety of political factors and economic considerations, but was ultimately due to the use of a new water source that stripped protective coatings off of the city's lead pipes. The problem is long-term and has no easy solution. In order for businesses, utilities and government organizations to avoid this catastrophic mistake in the future, they need to understand what went wrong in Flint.

A lack of understanding, a lack of visibility
When the city of Flint decided to end a long-standing agreement with the Detroit Water and Sewera Department to provide potable water, it had an alternate and seemingly safe source in mind: a new agreement with the Karengondi Water Authority, which uses Lake Huron as its water source. The time difference between the end of the agreement with Detroit and the beginning of the KWA contract, highlighted by state news source MLive during the changeover, meant Flint needed a new source of water in the interim.

The city's decision to use water from the Flint River, which is more corrosive than the water provided by Detroit, caused protective coatings to strip off of municipal piping, thereby exposing lead. Although efforts to treat the water from the river were enacted, they proved to be insufficient to combat such an extensive problem. Use of the Flint River as a water source was discontinued and the supply changed to a less disruptive body of water, but the exposed lead is causing serious and long-term problems for residents. The city continues to treat the water in an effort to build up the pipes' protective coating eroded by the Flint River, but the timeline to success for that project is unknown.

The political turmoil in Flint also contributed to the problem. The governor's office, the appointed emergency manager in Flint - an office in place from 2011 through 2015 that superseded the mayor's authority due to the city's economic woes - the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), members of the city council, residents and others have had long, serious discussions about where the blame should be attributed. There are no easy answers as it appears negligence, a genuine lack of understanding of potential issues, cost-cutting measures that ignored potential safety issues and many other factors all contributed to the current situation.

Improving organizational knowledge and insight
For organizations observing the situation in Flint, one of the major takeaways should be involving knowledgeable EHS professionals before major changes and decisions take place. As you can see, this is a critical step toward avoiding serious problems in the future. Organization leaders need to have a thorough understanding of potential environmental impacts, especially when something as vital to daily life as potable water is concerned. The inability of decision-makers to consider all aspects of the situation - including environmental and health issues - before acting is an enduring concept throughout Flint's contaminated water crisis.

Situations such as this could be avoided if organizations used EHS software solutions to provide clarification on regulatory requirements before initiating process changes. Dakota Software's ProActivity platform offers a regulatory library with extensive documentation on EHS requirements, including community drinking water standards, and a change management application that helps all concerned parties understand and collaborate on process changes before carrying them out. Regardless of the solution, all organizations should take steps to proactively address environmental, health and safety concerns to avoid making major, long-lasting mistakes.