Stakeholder

Identify three stakeholders from the case study. Describe each stakeholder’s primary interest AND their power/interest with the Flint Water Crisis in the attached template. This stakeholder engagement guide is a useful resource for this assignment.
Please position the stakeholders on the Interest/Power Matrix provided on the template.
Draw a systems map of the Flint Water Crisis. The goal is to think about the historical impacts of a range of socio-economic, political, and resource choices on integrated human-environmental well being to help you understand the various stakeholder perspectives, how they influence each other, and to holistically represent the system. Draw your systems map and submit to this assignment, on the same template provided in prompt 1. Various methods are fine – you can draw with a pencil and take a picture, create in powerpoint, use shapes on the word document, etc. However you decide to illustrate your systems map please embed the image/diagram within the provided template.

GIIRS Emerging Market

Assessment Resource Guide:

Stakeholder Engagement

Page 1 of 9

What’s in this Guide?

I. Definition: What Are Stakeholders?
II. Why Engage with Stakeholders?
III. Designing a Stakeholder Engagement Plan
IV. Methods of Engagement
V. Principles for Successful Engagement
VI. Regional Differences in Stakeholder Engagement
VII. Additional Resources

I. Definition: What Are Stakeholders?

The term “stakeholders” generally refers to any individual or group that, either positively or
negatively, impacts or is impacted by the decisions and actions of an organization. They are often
categorized into two groups based on whether the impact is direct or indirect. Examples include:

Primary or Economic Stakeholders
Directly impacted by company decisions

Secondary or External Stakeholders
Indirectly impacted by company decisions

 Employees (Managers & Non-Managers)
 Owners
 Investors / Shareholders
 Creditors
 Customers / Clients / Consumers
 Suppliers / Vendors
 Distributors
 Contractors

 Government (Local, National,
International)

 Community
 Civil Society / NGOs
 Unions
 Cooperatives
 Industry & Trade Associations
 Media
 Academic Institutions
 Competitors

This list is by no means exhaustive. Every company has a unique set of stakeholders based on its
geography, industry, size, business model, and stage of growth, among numerous other factors.

II. Why Engage with Stakeholders?

Stakeholder engagement refers to the process by which a company communicates or interacts with
its stakeholders in order to achieve a desired outcome and enhance accountability. Companies
have, to varying degrees, always engaged with stakeholders in one way or another. Historically,
engagement tended to be more reactive or focused on risk mitigation. As the corporate social

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Stakeholder Engagement

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responsibility movement has grown, companies have become proactive under the assumption that
stakeholder engagement can enhance the sustainability and profitability of the organization. 1

Benefits of engaging with stakeholders include:

Building Trust: Sincere efforts at engagement can improve relations between a company and its
stakeholders. This can diffuse existing tensions and make it easier to solve potential problems
down the road.

Risk Management: Working with stakeholders can lead to a more stable operating environment
and reveal critical information that is important for company decision-making.

Brand Enhancement: By engaging with stakeholders a company can improve its visibility and
reputation. Customers, investors, and other economic stakeholders may also view this
engagement as a differentiating factor in the market.

Improved Productivity: Better internal engagement can identify areas in which the company can
become more efficient. Additionally, employees that have a greater voice in the workplace tend
to have higher morale.

Strategic Opportunities: Engaging with stakeholders can help a company to identify new
business opportunities and market segments.

Partnerships: By collaborating with stakeholders, companies can pool resources to achieve a
common goal.

Increased Investment: Greater transparency and stakeholder engagement can be an attractive
draw for capital, particularly from impact investors.

1 SustainAbility, Practices and Principles for Successful Stakeholder Engagement, October 2007.

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Stakeholder Engagement

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The United Nations Environment Programme maps these benefits using a pyramid diagram: 2

The Business Case for Stakeholder Engagement: From Risk Management to Strategic Positioning

III. Designing a Stakeholder Engagement Plan

Although there are many approaches to stakeholder engagement, more structured plans often
include the following basic steps:3

1. Identify Stakeholders and Key Issues

 Profile stakeholders to understand their interests, knowledge, and capacity to engage.

 Categorize or map stakeholders based on the characteristics and issues that are most important

to the company or project. This can be accomplished through use of a table, chart, grid, zoning
map, or any other methods appropriate for the company and context. Common dimensions
used in stakeholder mapping include power, influence, interests, proximity and needs.

 Prioritize the issues and stakeholders that are most important to the business.

 Identify who are the legitimate and accountable representatives of each stakeholder.

2 Source: UNEP, The Stakeholder Engagement Manual – Volume 1: The Guide to Practitioners’ Perspectives on
Stakeholder Engagement, prepared by Stakeholder Research Associates Canada (July 2005).
3 Adapted from: AccountAbility, AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Standard 2011 – Final Exposure Draft.

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2. Establish Objectives and Process

 Decide on the scope of the process, timeline, and level of engagement.

 Set strategic goals and agree upon expectations. Determine what methods are best suited to

achieve these objectives and how to measure outcomes.

 Identify whether there are any regulatory or financial requirements for disclosure or

engagement.

 Assign ownership for the process and outline responsibilities for carrying out the different

components of the plan.

 Determine the resources available for

engagement and any training needed in order
for all stakeholders to engage effectively. This
may include sharing knowledge of the issues
and process, supporting development of
specific skills, or increasing resources, time or
access to information.

 Establish a method for documenting progress
and outcomes.

3 . Implement Plan

 Managers make sure that the process moves

forward as planned, gather data, and
coordinate with any third parties that are
involved.

 Embed commitment to engagement across all

levels of company corporate and operating
areas.

 Communicate progress to all stakeholders on

a frequent and transparent basis.

 Enact written grievance mechanisms to allow

stakeholders a chance to provide feedback
during the process.

Recommendations for
Small Businesses

Engaging with stakeholders requires
time, resources, and knowledge that
some small companies may not have. It
is important to remember that there is
no one-size-fits-all approach. Rather,
engagement between a company and its
stakeholders should be tailored to fit the
capacity of the participants.
When designing a stakeholder
engagement plan, small companies can
rely on the following tips to make the
process more manageable:
 Prioritizing stakeholders and

targeting the most important ones
first.

 Identify existing channels of
communication that may be used to
communicate with stakeholders. For
example, employee engagement can
be a good mechanism for
communicating with a broader
community in which the employees
reside.

 Seek out third party organizations
with additional resources that can
serve as an intermediary
stakeholder and enhance capacity.

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4. Review and Report

 Keep track of how outcomes correspond with original objectives. Empowering stakeholders in

this process gives them more ownership and can strengthen the relationship. An independent
party is also helpful in certain circumstances in order to improve accountability and credibility
of the engagement process.

 Use findings and feedback to revise the plan as needed and capture key learnings that can be

applied in future stakeholder engagement initiatives.

 Provide regular and transparent information to stakeholders about the results of the

engagement.

No two stakeholder plans will be the same – even for the same company. It is important to strike a
balance between welcoming stakeholder input on decisions that impact them directly while
maintaining discretion regarding information that could compromise the company.

IV. Methods of Engagement

A variety of tools can be used to engage with stakeholders. These are usually considered across a
spectrum depending on the stakeholder’s involvement in the decision-making process.

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Engagement Type Description & Examples

Communicate /
Disclose

Primarily one-way communication from the company to
stakeholders about practices or new developments that may
impact them. Sharing information can influence stakeholders,
build trust, and demonstrate transparency and a willingness to
engage.

Bulletins, letters, newsletters, reports, presentations, speeches,
videos, reports, interviews training, performance mechanisms, town
hall meetings, open houses, tours, ratings, performance metrics

Consult

Company asks for stakeholder perspective and may consider it in
decision-making. Primarily a one-way flow of information from
the stakeholder to the company. Demonstrates that the company
values stakeholder advice and feedback

Surveys, focus groups, assessments, Public hearings, workshops,
online feedback or discussion forums, hotlines

Participate

A two-way or multi-party conversation in which stakeholders play
a more important role in decision-making. Decisions are often
carried out by the company or the parties individually.

Advisory Board, task force, leadership summit, interviews, research
and analysis, workshops, focus groups

Partner / Negotiate

Collaboration between two or more parties on an area of mutual
interest. The company and stakeholders achieve synergies and
reduce risks by combining resources and areas of expertise. This
anchors stakeholder relationships around a common purpose and
can increase learning between the two groups.

A negotiated outcome also allows both companies and
stakeholders to come to a mutually agreed-upon decision and may
be appropriate for certain situations in which an agreement is
needed to continue operations.

Joint committee, joint ventures, product partnerships, multi-
stakeholder projects, alliances, collective bargaining

Empower

Stakeholders are given responsibility or legal recourse to influence
company governance or operational decision-making.

Stakeholder representation on Board of Directors, whistleblowing
policies, ombudsperson, warranty

S
T

A
K

E
H

O
L

D
E

R
I

N
F

L
U

E
N

C
E

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V. Principles for Successful Engagement

Engage with stakeholders early and often: Proactive, transparent communication with
stakeholders helps to build trust and shows that the company is committed to engagement. It is
important to remain in communication with key stakeholders even when there is not a pressing
need as this can pave the way for more effective problem solving when an issue does arise.

Make it easy for stakeholders to understand: Ensure that the format (language, technology,
medium, etc.) of engagement is understood by and accessible to stakeholders.

Take a long-term approach to engagement: Cultivating a long-term relationship with
stakeholders can improve operational stability and sustainability.

Remain thoughtful and sincere: Listening is important. Successful engagement can enhance a
company’s reputation and brand, and stakeholders will be more willing to participate if they feel
they are being heard.

Mutually define expectations: Establishing goals and a feasible engagement plan increase
ownership and accountability. These should still be flexible enough to accommodate different
interests that arise.

Tailor engagement to the context: Different stakeholders will require different levels of
engagement depending on the company or project type, stage, size, and many other factors. What is
important is the quality and legitimacy of stakeholder engagement.

Sensitivity to stakeholder dynamics: Culture, gender, and political balance can be important to
different stakeholder groups. Make an effort to understand these and ensure that the company is
interacting with a person or group that is viewed as a legitimate authority by the stakeholders it is
trying to engage.

Recognize challenges: Engagement requires time and resources. It also raises stakeholder
expectations and can lead to disappointment if their views are not adequately incorporated into
decision-making.

VI. Regional Differences in Stakeholder Engagement4

Stakeholder Issues:

 Social issues (education, health, job creation, etc.) tend to be more important than

4 United Nations Environment Programme, The Stakeholder Engagement Manual: The Guide to Practitioners’ Perspectives
on Stakeholder Engagement (Vol. 1), prepared by Stakeholder Research Associates Canada, July 2005.

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environmental issues to stakeholders in emerging markets.
 In developing countries, the environmental impact of extractive industries is more of a concern

for urban stakeholders, while rural stakeholders are primarily focused on employment
opportunities.

 Civil society groups in developed regions are often focused on advocacy, litigation and policy

whereas those in emerging markets, especially in Asia and Latin America, are more focused on
capacity building.

Characteristics of Engagement:

 Local community organizations in emerging markets may be linked with NGOs or advocacy

associations in developed countries.

 Formal partnerships are more common in Europe, while advisory panels and multi-stakeholder

groups seem to be preferred by external stakeholders in the U.S. Especially in Latin America,
there tends to be a preference for an individual representative of the community to engage
rather than a group or panel.

VII. Additional Resources

Background Materials:

AccountAbility, AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Standard 2011 – Basic, step-by-step
guide to stakeholder engagement.
http://www.accountability.org/standards/aa1000ses/index.html

International Finance Corporation, Stakeholder Engagement: A Good Practice Handbook
for Companies Doing Business in Emerging Markets, May 2007 (in Spanish, French,
Portuguese, Chinese, and Russian). Chapter on Stakeholder Consultation, pages 33-56

Engaging with Indigenous Groups

Indigenous groups are often the most vulnerable in a society. It is therefore important to engage
proactively to demonstrate a sincere commitment as it can take a long time to build trust with
these stakeholders. Make sure to understand the hierarchy of authorities and engage with the right
people in the right order. Language and the method of engagement should be appropriate for the
culture and context. There are also often regulatory implications of engaging with indigenous
communities. For example, engagement could be mandated by law, there may be disclosure
requirements, or engaging with these communities might need to go through an approval process.

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http://www1.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/topics_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/if
c+sustainability/publications/publications_handbook_stakeholderengagement__wci__1319
577185063

SustainAbility, Practices and Principles for Successful Stakeholder Engagement, October
2007. Case studies available.
http://www.sustainability.com/library/successful-stakeholder-engagement

United Nations Environment Programme, The Stakeholder Engagement Manual: The Guide
to Practitioners’ Perspectives on Stakeholder Engagement (Vol. 1), prepared by Stakeholder
Research Associates Canada, July 2005. See Chapter 2 (page 15): “Corporations: Why and
How Do We Engage?”
http://www.unep.fr/scp/publications/details.asp?id=WEB/0114/PA

United Nations Environment Programme, The Stakeholder Engagement Manual: The
Practitioner’s Handbook on Stakeholder Engagement (Vol. 2), prepared by AccountAbility,
the United Nations Environment Programme, and Stakeholder Research Associates,
October 2005 (available in English and Spanish). A step-by-step guide. See Chapter 3 (page
79): “Maintain and strengthen the capacities needed to engage effectively”
http://www.unep.fr/scp/publications/details.asp?id=WEB/0115/PA

This case was originally developed by the Global Health Education and Learning Incubator at Harvard University by Rachel Gordon, MBA, Case
Studies Program Manager, and Susan R. Holman, PhD, Senior Writer. It is used and distributed with permission by the Global Health Education
and Learning Incubator at Harvard University. Cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as
endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management.

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Rachel Gordon
Susan R. Holman

Flint, Michigan: Lethal Water

201

Between December 2011 and April 2015, the city of Flint, Michigan, was in legal “receivership,” a state
of financial emergency that is usually a last-ditch attempt to avoid total bankruptcy. Over approximately
65 years, Flint had gone from automotive manufacturing powerhouse second only to Detroit in the
1950s,1 to a city with high levels of poverty and unemployment. Starting in the 1960s, Flint began losing
residents to better opportunities elsewhere. Over the period of 55 years, 100,000 citizens fled. By 2015,
only 99,000 citizens were still living in Flint.2 Like its neighbor, Detroit, located about 70 miles to the
southeast, Flint’s fortunes had dwindled with the decline of the American automobile industry. By 2015,
approximately 57 percent of Flint citizens were Black or African American; 41 percent lived in poverty,
and the median household Flint income was $24,000; nearly one in five of citizens had a disability, and
as of 2014, 14 percent had no health insurance.3 In 2015, Flint was rated the third most dangerous city
in the United States for violent crime and sexual assault.4 By some estimates, the city’s unemployment
rate in 2016 was more than twice the national average.

Dollars, Cents, and Water

During Flint’s 2011-2015 fiscal crisis, the city’s finances were directed by Emergency Managers (EMs)
appointed by Michigan Governor, Rick Snyder, who took office on January 1, 2011. Under the interim
governance of these EMs, Flint city officials decided to slash costs by changing the source of the city’s
municipal water. For decades, Flint’s water had been piped from Lake Huron through the Detroit Water
and Sewerage Department. The Karegnondi Water Authority (KWA) of Genesee County, where Flint is
located, was in the process of planning a new water system separate from the Detroit system. In March
2013, Ed Kurtz, one of the four EMs to serve between 2011 and 2015, signed an agreement for Flint to
switch over to the KWA system when it was ready. Construction on the new water system, however,
would not be complete until 2016 at the earliest. Meanwhile, the Detroit water department raised Flint’s
water payment rates to a level that would cost the city an additional $10 million over the interim two
years—funds not readily available in the near-bankrupt city budget. In June, Kurtz—in an unprecedented
move for Flint’s local water supply—signed an order for an engineering contract that would return to
operation Flint’s own water treatment plant—not used since 1967,6 using water from the Flint River “as
a primary drinking source for approximately two years and then converting to KWA delivered lake water
when available.”7

This decision was made despite the known fact that, for decades, the Flint River had served “as the local
industry’s sewage collection system.”8 Early in the fiscal crisis—in 2012—officials went on record to
recommend against using the Flint River for city water.9 In September 2013, a new Emergency

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Manager—Michael Brown—approved an order for a contract between Flint, Genesee County, and the
KWA. In October 2013, Brown was replaced by yet another Emergency Manager, a longtime state
employee, Darnell Earley. Earley had served Flint in the early 2000s as both city administrator and
interim mayor. During this time Earley was not a local resident, living almost 90 miles away in Lansing,
yet he still earned $180,000 annually as Flint’s city manager.10

The city of Flint continued to use the Detroit water system until April 25, 2014. On that day, city
officials—including Earley and then-Mayor, Dayne Walling, celebrated a public switch of the valve that
controlled the city’s water source, switching it from Lake Huron water, treated through Detroit, to water
from the Flint River.

No Cause for Celebration

Immediately residents complained. Complainants noted changes in water’s color, smell, and taste. In
August 2014, the water tested positive for E. coli, a bacterium commonly associated with food
poisoning; E. coli causes serious debilitating intestinal illness and can also cause kidney disease. Officials
told citizens to boil water; complaints about the odor and discoloration continued.

To try and address these concerns, the city added chlorine treatment, at levels so high that residents
complained of not only worse odor but also burning symptoms in any contact with the water. Soon
officials noted that high chlorine levels were causing unsafe production of a chlorine byproduct,
trihalomethane; another warning was issued.

Meanwhile, in Flint’s General Motors plant—historically one of Flint’s largest employers—workers alerted
the company that the water was also corroding engine parts. Once this complaint reached Governor
Snyder’s office, the governor, it was said, “quietly spent $440,000 to hook GM back up to the Lake
Huron water”13 through connections in Flint Township, an adjacent municipality that had not gone with
the city of Flint in the switch.

“There is No Need to Worry”

By January 2015 the city’s mayor, Dayne Walling, was continuing to insist that Flint’s water was safe,1

despite increasingly vocal complaints from residents. The concern was so great that officials in the
Detroit water treatment system offered to reconnect Flint to its water at no cost. Earley turned down
this offer for reasons that remain unclear.15 A few weeks later, Snyder re-appointed Earley to a new
position, as Emergency Manager for the Detroit Public Schools; Gerald Ambrose took Earley’s place in
Flint. Ambrose, determined to balance the books and fix Flint’s finances, also rejected an attempt to
switch back to Lake Huron water, calling a city council vote for this change in March 2015
“incomprehensible.”16

Throughout these months, Flint’s concerned citizens began to flock to city hall and city council meetings
in repeated but futile attempts to persuade the city governance to recognize and admit that a problem
existed with the water that needed urgent attention and action.

One of these citizens was LeeAnn Walters. Walters had moved to Flint in June 2011 with her husband,
a Navy Reserve officer, and their four children. When they bought their house, it was missing all of its
interior plumbing; the Walters had the plumbing restored with a renovation that used safety-compliant
PVC plastic pipes and filters. Soon after the city switched to the Flint River water, Walters and her
children began to suffer from inexplicable skin rashes and hair loss even before December 2014, when
the water coming out of their faucets turned consistently brown. In February 2015, Flint’s Utilities
Administrator, Mike Glasgow, visited Walters’ home in response to her complaints about the discolored

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water. It was Glasgow who first identified elevated lead levels in her water and immediately warned the
family to stop using it.17 Periodic retesting confirmed increasingly elevated lead levels.

Lead ingestion of any kind and at any level poses a health risk; the ideal lead level in water is zero parts
per billion (ppb). In the United States today, any level over 15 ppb is considered a serious problem.
Walters’ water measured 104 ppb on Glasgow’s first visit. It eventually skyrocketed on subsequent
testing to over 13,000 ppb, nearly three times the level considered to be toxic waste. Lead itself is
invisible in water; the discoloration was caused by other substances such as iron and copper that were
leaching into the water due to corrosion of the old pipes throughout the city’s water system.

Demanding to be Heard

Walters immediately took action to learn exactly what her family was experiencing and what all the
measurements meant for Flint’s water and public health. She contacted the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and spoke with Miguel Del Toral, the Regulations Manager for the ground
water and drinking water branch. With Walters’ information, Del Toral soon identified that the Flint
River water plant failed to include corrosion control treatment. Corrosion control is a standard part of
water treatment, and helps to coat water pipes with substances that prevent old lead, iron, and copper
pipes from leaching their metals into the water; corrosion control was standard protocol in the Detroit
water treatment system. The corrosive (and untreated) nature of the Flint River water had stripped the
pipes of its protective coatings and pulled toxins into the water that the city’s citizens were using for
drinking and bathing.

Del Toral—who one EPA official would later call a “hero”18—chose to go public with the information. He
wrote an interim report citing Walters’ data and test results, and allowed it to “leak” to the press when it
became obvious that top officials at Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) were
failing to take citizens’ concerns seriously. “Where these problems exist, I will not ignore them,” he
would write later.19 “I understand that this is not a comfortable situation, but the State is complicit in this
and the public has a right to know what they are doing because it is their children that are being
harmed,” Del Toral wrote. “At a MINIMUM [emphasis in original text], the city should be warning
residents about the high lead, not hiding it telling them there is no lead in the water.”20 While Del Toral’s
superiors attempted to “silence” him, calling him a “rogue employee,”21 the publicity of his report
continued to advance public concerns in Flint. Even so, top officials persisted in their claims that the
water was safe, and Flint citizens felt they were still not taken seriously in concerns they expressed with
officials at a meeting in August 2015.

It was immediately following this meeting that LeeAnn Walters decided to get in touch with Marc
Edwards, a water supply safety and engineering professor at Virginia Tech. Edwards was considered a
world expert on water corrosion and water safety. He had been awarded a MacArthur “genius” grant in
2007 for his research and work that forced national attention on elevated lead levels in the Washington,
D.C., municipal water supply, attention that resulted in intervention to fix the problems.22 After talking
with Walters on the phone, Edwards took immediate action. On his own time and at his own expense,
he and four graduate students, armed with a large supply of lead test kits, drove to Flint and began
asking residents for water samples. Forty percent of the first 252 kits they got back (out of 300 initially
distributed; the numbers tested would eventually total more than 800) came back with lead levels over
5 ppb; while the EPA allows 15 ppb in high-risk homes, any level of lead in water is considered a health
risk, and many samples were far above this threshold.23 Edwards’ team concurred that “Flint has a very
serious lead in water problem.”24 Edwards also became a public spokesperson to both citizens and public
officials in Flint, adding his voice to those who warned the city to do something quickly, and not drink or
use the Flint River water. Edwards and his researchers would later charge that the MDEQ had even

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gone so far as to fail to test the “worst case scenario” homes as federal law mandated. The result, it was
charged, “skewed the outcome of its tests to produce favorable results.”25

Effects of Lead Poisoning: Long-lasting and Irreversible

The most serious risk of lead poisoning is its effect on children. Lead poisoning affects behavioral,
growth, and learning abilities, and its effects on young children are lifelong and irreversible. While
nothing can remove lead from the body once it is present, healthy fresh foods rich in calcium, iron, and
vitamin C are believed to play a limited but positive role in reducing the body’s absorption of lead.26 But
for many of Flint’s children even this protection was missing due to poverty and lack of accessible
grocery stores stocked with fresh fruits and vegetables.a LeeAnn Walters knew that it was not just her
own two youngest children who faced lifelong consequences after they tested positive for high lead
levels. The crisis meant that every child in Flint was now at risk.

Despite the public outcry, some low-income Flint residents remained unaware of the risks. Among them
were members of the city’s small Latino community, many of whom were undocumented immigrants
and unable to read English. According to one civic activist for this community, “relatives of these families
from Mexico and other countries were calling asking what was going on, and in some cases that’s how
people found out about it.” After many Latinos shied away from the free bottled water distributions
across the city—fearful staff at such distributions would ask for identification—local religious groups
began an effort to distribute free water to all, without requiring identification or proof of Flint
residency.27

To understand the effects, one local pediatrician, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, head of the Pediatric
Residency Program at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, decided to measure blood lead levels in Children’s
Clinic patients and compare them to available Flint records prior to the Flint River water transition.
Results demonstrated that the percentage of children with high lead levels had nearly doubled since the
switch. In September 2015, Hanna-Attisha and other worried medical colleagues held a press
conference to announce their findings and concerns, demanding that the city return to Lake Huron
water in order to protect public health. While city officials initially dismissed her comments, calling them
“unfortunate,”28 this press conference marked a point of transition. On October 16, 2015, Flint’s city
officials made the switch back to the Detroit water treatment system.

A Return to Lake Huron’s Water, and Yet…

While Flint residents once again had access to a safe and properly treated water supply, the return to
Lake Huron did not solve many of the problems that contributed to Flint’s water crisis. The switch did
not reverse the effects of lead poisoning and other related toxicities that residents suffered as a result of
their exposure to Flint River water. It did not fix urban violence inherent in the dominant poverty or
improve home property values. It did not address the widespread lack of public confidence in the
governance system nor lingering distrust about any water flowing from their pipes, nor did it fill the

a Flint was a “food desert,” a community that lacks access to a full-scale, reasonably priced, well-stocked grocery store.
Instead Flint residents—like many others who live in poor communities—had to rely for food on local corner stores, which
were often expensive and lacked fresh vegetables and fruits. For more on food deserts, see R. Walker et al. Disparities and
Access to Healthy Food in the United States: A Review of Food Deserts Literature. Health and Place 2010; 16:876-884. DOI:
10.1016/j.healthplace.2010.04.013. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1353829210000584.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1353829210000584

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health insurance gap that prevented many of Flint’s families and young children from easy access to
necessary medical care.

One of the many challenges Flint still faced at the end of 2015 was the city’s utilities infrastructure.
There remained, for example, the simple structural question of how to remove and replace the affected
pipes. Many of Flint’s water pipes were more than a hundred years old. To remove ancient iron and
lead-lined pipes, city workers first needed to know where they were and how to access them. The city’s
government records of water pipes was stored in the form of disorganized card files and fraying paper
records.29 Moreover, Flint’s dwindling population left the city with an insufficient tax base to maintain
the system, let alone upgrade it.

During the late fall and winter of 2015-2016, many officials implicated in the crisis stepped down or
were fired, but Governor Rick Snyder stayed in office and remained actively engaged in addressing the
storm of media controversy. As part of Snyder’s efforts to address public perception and action on the
problems, he appointed a Flint Water Interagency Coordinating Committee.30 Among those he
appointed as committee members, Snyder included both Edwards and Hanna-Attisha as “subject matter
experts,” in addition to the new Flint Mayor, Karen Weaver, and other county and city representatives.
Snyder’s office also commissioned a Flint Water Advisory Task Force report, released in March 2016.31
The report admitted that the crisis was due to “government failure, intransigency, unpreparedness,
delay, inaction, and environmental injustice.”32 It lay the blame, however, on the Michigan Department
of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), together with the Michigan Department of Health and Human
Services, and not on the governor himself. The report admitted inaction by the governor’s office,
explaining that this inaction was due to the “continued reassurances from MDEQ that the water was
safe.”33 As part of Snyder’s responses in the face of widespread lack of confidence for his decisions
during the crisis, he announced in mid-April 2016 that he would drink Flint water for 30 days, in an
effort to “alleviate some of the skepticism and mistrust.”34 His staff collected a few gallons of water from
a nearby home in Flint for Snyder to carry and drink at work and home even as he also warned pregnant
women and children ages 5 and under to continue to drink bottled water.35

Snyder’s response illustrates the local nature of both environmental problems as well as efforts at
resolution in such crises. While the federal Environmental Protection Agency can act based on
legislation mandating safe water (the Safe Drinking Water Act), it is the responsibility of individual states
to enforce the Act and make decisions based on any evidence of its violation.3

Snyder’s efforts at swaying public opinion to his favor were not entirely successful. On November 16,
2015, lawyers announced a class action suit on behalf of Flint residents against the city and state
officials, including both Snyder and the MDEQ Director, Dan Wymont. A federal judge in Detroit
dismissed the suit in April 2016.37

Legal wrangles continued. In April 2016, many Flint citizens expressed satisfaction at the Michigan
Attorney General’s announcement of felony charges against three government officials involved in the
crisis: Flint’s laboratory and water quality supervisor, Mike Glasgow; Michigan Department of
Environmental Quality official Mike Prysby, and Lansing district coordinator for the MDEQ’s Office of
Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance, Stephen Busch.38 Reflecting on the news, one Flint citizen,
retired Flint school teacher Nadine Roberts, noted, “Clean water is a human right that definitely a lot of
people violated in Flint, for greed.”39 In mid-June 2016, Michigan’s Attorney General announced a
lawsuit against two private-sector companies, one based in Houston, Texas, the other a subsidiary of an
international corporation based in France. Hired to ensure Flint’s water safety, the failure of both
consultant reports to identify obvious problems made them, the attorney general charged, “complicit in
the series of events that caused lead to leach from pipes and poison children.”40

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Meanwhile, citizen action groups in Flint continue to band together to provide emergency resources to
their neighbors, including faith groups such as the Michigan Muslim Community Council41 and the Flint
Grassroots Initiative,42 supporting residents who remain in the community with donated time, money,
goods, information, and even a few new grocery stores.43

What is the Next Chapter in Flint’s Story?

The Walters family moved to Virginia in October 2015. It was “to get us out of Flint,” says LeeAnn
Walters, of her husband’s choice to return to active duty with the United States Navy, “Because of what
it was doing and the health concerns and the fact that we weren’t being listened to with our child being
poisoned.”44 Yet Walters remained part of citizen action group efforts to address the long-term
consequences of the water crisis in Flint. She was among the cofounders of the Community
Development Organization of Flint (“C Do”45), which “addresses the city of Flint, Michigan’s
infrastructure, healthcare, educational, family assistance, and economic development needs that have
resulted from the Flint Water Crisis and the long-term economic and civic challenges.”46 Many residents
who left Flint remain suspicious of the water supplies in other cities. Indeed, Flint’s lead crisis has
resulted in heightened attention to both safe water and the risks of lead pipes in urban infrastructure
across the country.47

On June 23, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that filtered water in
Flint was now officially safe to drink, even for pregnant women, nursing mothers, and children. But
Mayor Karen Weaver readily admits that the situation is far from solved. “While it’s good to know we
can safely drink filtered water,” she added, “this is not the ultimate solution to the problem in Flint. We
still need new infrastructure, replacing the lead-tainted pipes in the city remains my top priority.”48

Flint eventually received $27 million to replace thousands of corroded water pipes, but as of November
2016 fewer than 200 pipes had been fixed.49 Laura Sullivan, a professor at Kettering University who has
worked on clean water projects around the world, expressed frustration with Flint’s lack of progress.
During a previous interview with National Public Radio (NPR) in January 2016, Sullivan had
optimistically thought that the spotlight on Flint would cause the situation to improve rapidly. However
in a follow-up interview ten months later in September 2016 she ruefully noted,

“It [Flint] ought to be just a one-time, oh, my gosh, people weren’t paying attention and
they were reckless, and now we figured it out and now we fixed it. But unfortunately, it
feels more and more like a system in parts of the world where the government is corrupt,
and there are too many hands that are involved that don’t involve the people who are
actually living in poverty. And the people who are living in poverty aren’t empowered to
be part of the solution.” 50

Indeed in November 2016, two years after the city’s water switch, residents without properly working
filters still did not have access to safe water in their homes. A federal district court judge ruled that the
city had to begin to provide and deliver at least 96 half-liter bottles weekly to each Flint resident until
the city found a permanent solution. Flint fought against the suit, maintaining that city water distribution
centers provided clean water to residents in need. However the judge found otherwise, citing obstacles
such as language, old age, cognitive barriers, a lack of necessary tools, and challenges transporting water
from the distribution centers to their homes. The ruling was effective immediately.51

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Select Bibliography

Carmody, S, “An Exit Interview with Flint Emergency Manager Jerry Ambrose,” Michigan Radio, April 29,
2015, http://michiganradio.org/post/exit-interview-flint-emergency-manager-jerry-ambrose#stream/0.

Del Toral, MA. USEPA Memo on “High Lead Levels in Flint, Michigan – Interim Report,” June 24, 2015,
http://flintwaterstudy.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Miguels-Memo .

Easley J. “Democrats Bust Rick Snyder for Lying to Congress about Flint Water Crisis.” May 16, 2016.
http://www.politicususa.com/2016/05/16/democrats-bust-rick-snyder-lying-congress-flint-water-
crisis.html.

“EPA Chief to Testify Before Congressional Panel on Flint’s Water Crisis,” National Public Radio, March
15, 2016, http://www.npr.org/2016/03/15/470486267/epa-chief-to-testify-before-congressional-
panel-on-flint-s-water-crisis.

Flint Water Study Updates. http://flintwaterstudy.org
This website was created and maintained by the research team from Virginia Tech. It includes relevant
data and information about: fundraising and grants; stories from Flint residents; Flint River corrosivity
experiments, citizen testing, and resources on lead in water/blood lead; opportunistic pathogens,
including Legionella, bacteria, chlorine, and TTHMs; FOIA emails, investigations, reports, and the Water
Study Analyses (MDEQ, EPA, MDHHS, City of Flint, and Michigan Governor’s Office); information on
the study group’s Flint trips and work with school kids; data, talks, podcasts, LCR analyses, and
presentations; stories about goodwill efforts on behalf of Flint; and lawsuits, petitions, letters, press
releases, and other announcements. The Flint Water Study team also maintains a Facebook page, and
has posted nearly 3000 tweets to date on their Twitter site, https://twitter.com/flintwaterstudy. A
transparent summary of the estimated costs involved in this largely-volunteer effort is listed at
https://www.gofundme.com/flintstudyvt.

Flint Water Advisory Task Force Final Report, commissioned by the Office of Governor Rick Snyder, State
of Michigan, March 2016,
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/snyder/FWATF_FINAL_REPORT_21March2016_517805_7 .

“Flint Water Crisis: Timeline of Communication.” May 2, 2016.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoXdTL90024.

Fonger R. “Ex-Emergency Manager Says He’s Not to Blame for Flint River Water Switch,” October 13,
2015, http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/10/ex_emergency_manager_earley_sa.html.

http://michiganradio.org/post/exit-interview-flint-emergency-manager-jerry-ambrose#stream/0

http://flintwaterstudy.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Miguels-Memo

http://www.politicususa.com/2016/05/16/democrats-bust-rick-snyder-lying-congress-flint-water-crisis.html

http://www.npr.org/2016/03/15/470486267/epa-chief-to-testify-before-congressional-panel-on-flint-s-water-crisis

http://flintwaterstudy.org/

Tweets by flintwaterstudy

https://www.gofundme.com/flintstudyvt

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/snyder/FWATF_FINAL_REPORT_21March2016_517805_7

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/10/ex_emergency_manager_earley_sa.html

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French R. “Flint 101: In Business Schools and Seminars, a Tough Grade for Snyder,” April 28, 2016,
http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/04/flint_101_in_business_schools.html.

Groden, C. “Emergency Manager System Comes Under Fire After Flint Water Disaster,” March 23, 2016,
http://fortune.com/2016/03/23/flint-emergency-managers/.

Guyette, C, “Exclusive: Gov. Rick Snyder’s Men Originally Rejected Using Flint’s Toxic River,” The Daily
Beast, Jan. 24, 2016, http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/24/exclusive-gov-rick-snyder-s-
men-originally-rejected-using-flint-s-toxic-river.html.

Kennedy, M, “Lead-Laced Water in Flint: A Step-By-Step Look at the Makings of a Crisis,” April 20,
2016, http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/20/465545378/lead-laced-water-in-flint-a-
step-by-step-look-at-the-makings-of-a-crisis.

Lurie, J. “Meet the Mom who Helped Expose Flint’s Toxic Water Nightmare,” Mother Jones, Jan. 21,
2016, http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/01/mother-exposed-flint-lead-contamination-
water-crisis.

Lurie, J. “A Toxic Timeline of Flint’s Water Fiasco,” Mother Jones, Jan. 26, 2016,

A Toxic Timeline of Flint’s Water Fiasco

McLaughlin, EC, “8 Responses to Michigan Governor Drinking Flint Water,” CNN, April 19, 2016,
http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/19/us/michigan-governor-rick-snyder-drinks-flint-water-social/.

“Mom in Center of Flint Water Crisis Starts Nonprofit,” Detroit Free Press, April 26, 2016.
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2016/04/26/flint-water-crisis-
leeanne-walters-nonprofit/83534206/.

Moore, M. “10 Things They Won’t Tell You About the Flint Water Tragedy. But I Will.”
http://michaelmoore.com/10FactsOnFlint/.

Sierra, J. “The Sinking Feeling of a City Called Flint,” Sierra Club, Feb. 25, 2016,
http://www.sierraclub.org/planet/2016/02/sierra-tierra-sinking-feeling-city-called-flint.

Silverstein, J, “Meet Darnell Earley, the Man Behind Flint’s Water Crisis And a Lot of Other Municipal
Messes,” New York Daily News, Jan. 21, 2016, http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/meet-
darnell-earley-man-behind-flint-water-crisis-article-1.2505074.

http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/04/flint_101_in_business_schools.html

http://fortune.com/2016/03/23/flint-emergency-managers/

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/24/exclusive-gov-rick-snyder-s-men-originally-rejected-using-flint-s-toxic-river.html

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/20/465545378/lead-laced-water-in-flint-a-step-by-step-look-at-the-makings-of-a-crisis

Meet the Mom Who Helped Expose Flint’s Toxic Water Nightmare

A Toxic Timeline of Flint’s Water Fiasco

http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/19/us/michigan-governor-rick-snyder-drinks-flint-water-social/

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2016/04/26/flint-water-crisis-leeanne-walters-nonprofit/83534206/

http://michaelmoore.com/10FactsOnFlint/

http://www.sierraclub.org/planet/2016/02/sierra-tierra-sinking-feeling-city-called-flint

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/meet-darnell-earley-man-behind-flint-water-crisis-article-1.2505074

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Smith, L, “The Mom and the EPA ‘Rogue Employee’ Who Exposed Flint’s Water Crisis,” Michigan Radio,
PRI, Jan. 23, 2016, http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-01-23/after-blowing-whistle-flints-water-epa-
rogue-employee-has-been-silent-until-now.

Smith, L, “This Mom Helped Uncover What Was Really Going On with Flint’s Water,” December 14,
2015, Michigan Radio, NPR; http://michiganradio.org/post/mom-helped-uncover-what-was-really-
going-flint-s-water.

http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-01-23/after-blowing-whistle-flints-water-epa-rogue-employee-has-been-silent-until-now

http://michiganradio.org/post/mom-helped-uncover-what-was-really-going-flint-s-water

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Endnotes

1 ”Flint, Michigan.” Encyclopedia Britannica, online public access edition. http://www.britannica.com/place/Flint-
Michigan, accessed 6/23/16.

2 “Flint, Michigan: Population History,” BiggestUSCities.com (based on data from United States Census Bureau),
http://www.biggestuscities.com/city/flint-michigan, accessed 6/23/16.

3 http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/2629000, accessed 6/22/16. See the bibliography in this
document for a list of sources consulted.

4 http://kdvr.com/2015/05/08/by-the-numbers-here-are-the-most-dangerous-cities-in-america, accessed
6/22/16.

5 http://www.bestplaces.net/economy/city/michigan/flint, accessed 6/22/16. It is important to note that there is
often a wide range of variance about this information, depending on data sources.

6 Ed. Daisy, M. “Detriot Water and Sewage Department: The First 300 Years,”
http://dwsd.org/downloads_n/about_dwsd/history/complete_history , accessed 6/23/16

7 Fonger R. “Ex-Emergency Manager Says He’s Not to Blame for Flint River Water Switch.” Michigan MLive News,
October 13, 2015. http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/10/ex_emergency_manager_earley_sa.html,
accessed 6/22/16.

8 Sierra J. “The Sinking Feeling of a City Called Flint,” The Huffington Post, February 25, 2016,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/javier-sierra/the-sinking-feeling-of-a_b_9319024.html, accessed 6/22/16.

9 Guyette C. “Exclusive: Gov. Rick Snyder’s Men Originally Rejected Using Flint’s Toxic River.” The Daily Beast,
January 24, 2016. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/24/exclusive-gov-rick-snyder-s-men-
originally-rejected-using-flint-s-toxic-river.html, accessed 6/23/16.

10 Silverstein J. “Meet Darnell Earley, The Man Behind Flint’s Water Crisis and a Lot of Other Municipal Messes,”
New York Daily News, January 21, 2016, http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/meet-darnell-earley-man-
behind-flint-water-crisis-article-1.2505074, accessed 6/22/16.

11 Fonger R. “Flint Issues Boil Water Advisory for Section of the City After Positive Test for Total Coliform
Bacteria.” Michigan MLive, September 5, 2014.
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2014/09/flint_issues_boil_water_adviso.html, accessed 6/23/16.

12 Lurie J. “A Toxic Timeline of Flint’s Water Fiasco.” Mother Jones, January 26, 2016.
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/01/flint-lead-water-crisis-timeline, accessed 6/23/16.

13 Moore M. “10 Things They Won’t Tell You About the Flint Water Tragedy. But I Will.”
http://michaelmoore.com/10FactsOnFlint, accessed 6/22/16.

14 Erb R. “Who Wants to Drink Flint’s Water?” Detroit Free Press, January 23, 2015.
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/01/22/water-woes-latest-hit-flint/22193291, accessed
6/23/16. For the views of former Flint mayor Dayne Walling a year later, see Grimes R. “Former Flint Mayor on
Water Crisis: “It’s Frustrating That More Has Not Been Done,” Michigan Radio, January 29, 2016.

http://www.britannica.com/place/Flint-Michigan

http://www.biggestuscities.com/city/flint-michigan

http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/2629000

http://kdvr.com/2015/05/08/by-the-numbers-here-are-the-most-dangerous-cities-in-america/

http://www.bestplaces.net/economy/city/michigan/flint

http://dwsd.org/downloads_n/about_dwsd/history/complete_history

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/10/ex_emergency_manager_earley_sa.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/javier-sierra/the-sinking-feeling-of-a_b_9319024.html

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/24/exclusive-gov-rick-snyder-s-men-originally-rejected-using-flint-s-toxic-river.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/meet-darnell-earley-man-behind-flint-water-crisis-article-1.2505074

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2014/09/flint_issues_boil_water_adviso.html

A Toxic Timeline of Flint’s Water Fiasco

http://michaelmoore.com/10FactsOnFlint/

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/01/22/water-woes-latest-hit-flint/22193291/

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http://michiganradio.org/post/former-flint-mayor-water-crisis-its-frustrating-me-more-has-not-been-done,
accessed 6/23/16.

15 Fonger R. “Detroit Offers Flint ‘Long-Term’ Deal for Lake Huron Water With No Reconnection Fee,” Michigan
MLive, January 17, 2015. http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/01/detroit_offers_flint_deal_for.html,
accessed 6/23/16.

16 Carr N. “Michigan Restricted Flint From Switching Water in Loan Deal,” The Voice Herald, March 4, 2016.
http://voiceherald.com/2016/03/04/michigan-restricted-flint-from-switching-water-in-loan-deal.html, accessed
6/22/16.

17 Smith L. “This Mom Helped Uncover What Was Really Going on With Flint’s Water. Michigan Radio December
14, 2015, http://michiganradio.org/post/mom-helped-uncover-what-was-really-going-flint-s-water, accessed
6/23/16.

18 Smith L. “After Blowing the Whistle on Flint’s Water, EPA ‘Rogue Employee Has Been Silent. Until Now.”
Michigan Radio, January 21, 2016. http://michiganradio.org/post/after-blowing-whistle-flints-water-epa-rogue-
employee-has-been-silent-until-now, accessed 6/23/16.

19 Lynch J. “Whistle-Blower Del Toral Grew Tired of EPA ‘Cesspool’.” The Detroit News March 29, 2016.
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2016/03/28/whistle-blower-del-toral-
grew-tired-epa-cesspool/82365470, accessed 6/22/16.

20 Ibid.

21 Roy S. “Del Toral’s Heroic Effort Was Ultimately Vetted in the Blood Lead of Flint’s Children,” Flint Water Study
Updates, January 13, 2016. http://flintwaterstudy.org/2016/01/del-torals-heroic-effort-was-ultimately-vetted-in-
the-blood-lead-of-flints-children/, accessed 6/23/16.

22 Itkowitz C. “The Heroic Professor Who Helped Uncover the Flint Lead Water Crisis Has Been Asked to Fix It.”
The Washington Post, January 27, 2016. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-
life/wp/2016/01/26/meet-the-heroic-professor-who-helped-uncover-the-flint-lead-water-crisis, accessed
6/23/16.

23 Roy S. “Our Sampling of 252 Homes Demonstrates a High Lead in Water Risk: Flint Should be Failing to Meet
the EPA Lead and Copper Rule.” Flint Water Study Updates September 8, 2015.
http://flintwaterstudy.org/2015/09/our-sampling-of-252-homes-demonstrates-a-high-lead-in-water-risk-flint-
should-be-failing-to-meet-the-epa-lead-and-copper-rule, accessed 6/22/16.

24 Flintwaterstudy.org

25 Brush M. “Expert Says Michigan Officials Changed a Flint Lead Report to Avoid Federal Action.” Michigan Radio,
November 5, 2015. http://michiganradio.org/post/expert-says-michigan-officials-changed-flint-lead-report-avoid-
federal-action, accessed 6/23/16.

26 USDA. “USDA Increases Assistance to Flint Families With Delivery of Nutritious Food Packages.” FNS Release
0010.16, June 15, 2016. http://www.fns.usda.gov/pressrelease/2016/fns-001016, accessed 6/23/16.

27 Sierra, J. “The Sinking Feeling of a City Called Flint,” Sierra Club, Feb. 25, 2016,
http://www.sierraclub.org/planet/2016/02/sierra-tierra-sinking-feeling-city-called-flint, accessed 3/23/16; see
also Haltiwanger J. “How One Community of Churchgoers And Former Convicts is Fighting For Flint.” Elite Daily,

http://michiganradio.org/post/former-flint-mayor-water-crisis-its-frustrating-me-more-has-not-been-done

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/01/detroit_offers_flint_deal_for.html

http://voiceherald.com/2016/03/04/michigan-restricted-flint-from-switching-water-in-loan-deal.html

http://michiganradio.org/post/mom-helped-uncover-what-was-really-going-flint-s-water

http://michiganradio.org/post/after-blowing-whistle-flints-water-epa-rogue-employee-has-been-silent-until-now

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2016/03/28/whistle-blower-del-toral-grew-tired-epa-cesspool/82365470/

Del Toral’s Heroic Effort Was Ultimately Vetted in the Blood Lead of Flint’s Children

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2016/01/26/meet-the-heroic-professor-who-helped-uncover-the-flint-lead-water-crisis/

Our sampling of 252 homes demonstrates a high lead in water risk: Flint should be failing to meet the EPA Lead and Copper Rule

http://michiganradio.org/post/expert-says-michigan-officials-changed-flint-lead-report-avoid-federal-action

http://www.fns.usda.gov/pressrelease/2016/fns-001016

http://www.sierraclub.org/planet/2016/02/sierra-tierra-sinking-feeling-city-called-flint

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Flint, Michigan: Lethal Water

June 6, 2016. http://elitedaily.com/news/politics/fighting-for-flint-churchgoers-convicts/1512274, accessed
6/21/16.

28 Erb R. “Flint Doctor Makes State See Light About Lead in Water,” Detroit Free Press, October 12, 2015,
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/10/10/hanna-attisha-profile/73600120, accessed
6/23/16.

29 Fonger R. “Documents Show Flint Filed False Reports About Testing for Lead in Water,” Michigan MLive News,
November 12, 2015. http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/11/documents_show_city_filed_fals.html,
accessed 6/22/16.

30 http://www.michigan.gov/snyder/0,4668,7-277-57738_57679_57726-374931–,00.html. Accessed 6/22/16.

31 Office of Governor Rick Snyder, State of Michigan, Flint Water Advisory Task Force: Final Report, March 2016.
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/snyder/FWATF_FINAL_REPORT_21March2016_517805_7 , accessed
6/22/16.

32 Ibid.

33 Ibid.

34 “Michigan Governor to Drink Flint Water in Show of Safety Over Lead Crisis,” Reuters, April 18, 2016.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-michigan-water-idUSKCN0XF2Q1, accessed 6/22/16.

35 “Johnson J. “Gov. Snyder Says He Still ‘Occasionally’ Drinks Flint Water,” mlive.com, June 6, 2016.
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2016/06/snyder_says_he_still_drinks_fi.html, accessed 4/27/17.

36 “EPA Chief to Testify Before Congressional Panel on Flint’s Water Crisis,” National Public Radio, March 15, 2016.
http://www.npr.org/2016/03/15/470486267/epa-chief-to-testify-before-congressional-panel-on-flint-s-water-
crisis, accessed 6/23/16.

37 Chambers J. “Federal Judge Dismisses Class Action Lawsuit Over Flint.” The Detroit News, April 19, 2016.
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2016/04/19/flint-class-action-
lawsuit/83229426, accessed 6/23/16.

38 Sanchez R, Ganim S, Tran L. “Flint Water Crisis: Who’s Been Charged, Who Hasn’t.”
http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/21/us/flint-crisis-who-was-charged, accessed 6/22/16.

39 Helms M and Anderson E. “In Flint, Hope and Skepticism Alive as Charges Filed,” Detroit Free Press, April 20,
2016. http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2016/04/20/flint-hope-and-
skepticism-alive-charges-filed/83307148, accessed 6/22/16.

40 Smith M, Bosman J. “Michigan Attorney General Sues 2 Companies Over Flint Water Crisis,” The New York Times,
June 22, 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/23/us/flint-water-crisis-michigan.html, accessed 6/23/16.

41 Wang FK-H. “Michigan Muslim Community Organizations Join Forces to Help Flint Water Crisis,” NBC News,
January 29, 2016. http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/michigan-muslim-community-organizations-
join-forces-help-flint-water-crisis-n507381, accessed 6/22/16.

42 http://flintgrassroots.org

http://elitedaily.com/news/politics/fighting-for-flint-churchgoers-convicts/1512274/

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/10/10/hanna-attisha-profile/73600120/

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/11/documents_show_city_filed_fals.html

http://www.michigan.gov/snyder/0,4668,7-277-57738_57679_57726-374931–,00.html

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/snyder/FWATF_FINAL_REPORT_21March2016_517805_7

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-michigan-water-idUSKCN0XF2Q1

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2016/06/snyder_says_he_still_drinks_fi.html

http://www.npr.org/2016/03/15/470486267/epa-chief-to-testify-before-congressional-panel-on-flint-s-water-crisis

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2016/04/19/flint-class-action-lawsuit/83229426/

http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/21/us/flint-crisis-who-was-charged/

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2016/04/20/flint-hope-and-skepticism-alive-charges-filed/83307148/

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/michigan-muslim-community-organizations-join-forces-help-flint-water-crisis-n507381

http://flintgrassroots.org/

This case is licensed Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-NoDerivs3.0Unported
gheli@harvard.edu

617-495-8222

Flint, Michigan: Lethal Water

43 Tolan C. “Meet Two Grocery Store Owners on the Front Lines of the Fight for Healthy Food in Flint,” Fusion,
January 26, 2016. http://fusion.net/story/258813/flint-water-grocery-stores, accessed 6/23/16.

44 “Not Safe to Drink,” Flint Water Crisis Documentary, Michigan Public Radio, 2016.
http://michiganradio.org/post/listen-not-safe-drink-special-documentary-about-flint-water-crisis, part 3, accessed
6/22/16.

45 http://www.cdoflint.org. Accessed 6/22/16, the site was apparently down on a repeat access visit 5/1/17; the
organization’s Facebook account (https://www.facebook.com/CDoFlint) had not been updated since April 2016.

46 Carmody S. “Community Development Organization: Activists Start Charity to Help People Struggling in Flint,”
http://michiganradio.org/term/community-development-organization#stream/0, accessed 6/22/16.

47 Pelton T. “Testing for Lead in Water Across U.S. Faulted in Wake of Flint Disaster.” NPR, February 3, 2016.
http://wypr.org/post/testing-lead-water-across-us-faulted-wake-flint-disaster, accessed 6/23/16.

48 “Feds Say Filtered Flint Drinking Water Is Safe To Drink,” NBC News, June 23, 2016.
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/flint-water-crisis/feds-says-filtered-flint-drinking-water-safe-drink-n597876,
accessed 6/23/16.

49 Shapiro A. “In Year Since Water Crisis Began, Flint Struggles In Pipe Replacement Efforts,” National Public Radio,
September 30, 2016. http://www.npr.org/2016/09/30/496119942/in-year-since-water-crisis-began-flint-
struggles-in-pipe-replacement-efforts, accessed 12/8/16.

50 Ibid.

51 This paragraph based on Chokshi N. “Judge Orders that Bottled Water Be Delivered to Residents of Flint,
Mich.,” The New York Times, November 10, 2016. http://nyti.ms/2eHCyTz, accessed 12/8/16.

http://fusion.net/story/258813/flint-water-grocery-stores/

http://michiganradio.org/post/listen-not-safe-drink-special-documentary-about-flint-water-crisis

http://www.cdoflint.org/

https://www.facebook.com/CDoFlint/

http://michiganradio.org/term/community-development-organization#stream/0

http://wypr.org/post/testing-lead-water-across-us-faulted-wake-flint-disaster

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/flint-water-crisis/feds-says-filtered-flint-drinking-water-safe-drink-n597876

http://www.npr.org/2016/09/30/496119942/in-year-since-water-crisis-began-flint-struggles-in-pipe-replacement-efforts

Stakeholder

(Name of group or individual)

Identify

Interests

(What is their position? What outcome is a win for them? What are their biggest concerns? What are the tradeoffs?)

Interests

Interest/Power Matrix

A stakeholder map is a snapshot of your stakeholder landscape at a given point in time. It’s often depicted as a graph with 2 axes divided into 4 quadrants:

· The y-axis represents a stakeholder’s level of power or influence over your project.

· The x-axis indicates their level of interest in your project.

1. High-power, interested people, who must be managed closely

2. High-power, less-interested people, who must be kept satisfied

3. Low-power, interested people, who must be kept informed

4. Low-power, less-interested people, who must be monitored with minimal effort

2006-2022 Mind Tools by Emerald Works Ltd.

Please use the above stakeholder grid to map out where each of the three stakeholders align. Each quadrant on the map requires a different engagement strategy. A stakeholder’s position on the map will determine how you engage with them, including the intensity and frequency of engagement. By periodically remapping your stakeholders, you can see how their positions change over the life of your project. This allows you to alter your stakeholder engagement strategies accordingly.

Draw Your Systems Map Here

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