When I first heard E. Yvonne Lewis tell the story, it was a hot July day in downtown Flint, Michigan. We and about 70 others had gathered in the high-ceilinged ballroom of the Northbank Center, just west of the river, where the Michigan Civil Rights Commission was conducting its 2016 hearings on how this Great Lakes city learned that its own water was a threat.
Lewis, a community health worker and mother of three, testified that she kept a Crock-Pot in her bathroom. To take a bath, she filled the cauldron with bottled water, waited for it to heat, poured it into her bathtub, then repeated this process until she had enough to wash.
Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder faces charges of willful neglect in the Flint water crisis.
This article was originally published by ProPublica. It is republished here with permission. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.
When I first heard E. Yvonne Lewis tell the story, it was a hot July day in downtown Flint, Michigan. We and about 70 others had gathered in the high-ceilinged ballroom of the Northbank Center, just west of the river, where the Michigan Civil Rights Commission was conducting its 2016 hearings on how this Great Lakes city learned that its own water was a threat.
The Unfinished Business Of Flint’s Water Crisis Criminal charges and a class-action settlement may seem like the last chapter in Flint’s story, but many of the most important reforms at the root of the city’s water crisis remain undone. FLINT, MI - JANUARY 23: The City of Flint Water Plant is illuminated by moonlight on January 23, 2016 in Flint, Michigan. A federal state of emergency has been declared in Flint due to dangerous levels of contamina. FLINT, MI - JANUARY 23: The City of Flint Water Plant is illuminated by moonlight on January 23, 2016 in Flint, Michigan. A federal state of emergency has been declared in Flint due to dangerous levels of contamination in the water supply. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
EGLE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s (EGLE) Office of the Environmental Justice Public Advocate today launched a website to better connect Michigan residents with the state’s work toward ensuring equity and environmental justice.
The site, Michigan.gov/EnvironmentalJustice, highlights ongoing environmental justice projects and initiatives, community partnerships, and ways for the public to interact with the office. It also offers information on the state’s Interagency Environmental Justice Response Team, inaugural Michigan Advisory Council on Environmental Justice, as well as Tribal Relations, and EGLE’s nondiscrimination, public participation and tribal consultation polices. EGLE’s newly developed Limited English Proficiency plan is also available on the site in English, Arabic and Spanish.