A story of environmental injustice and bad decision making, the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, began in 2014, when the city switched its drinking water supply from Detroit’s system to the Flint River in a cost-saving move. Inadequate treatment and testing of the water resulted in a series of major water quality and health issues for Flint residents—issues that were chronically ignored, overlooked, and discounted by government officials even as complaints mounted that the foul-smelling, discolored, and off-tasting water piped into Flint homes for 18 months was causing skin rashes, hair loss, and itchy skin. The Michigan Civil Rights Commission, a state-established body, concluded that the poor governmental response to the Flint crisis was a “result of systemic racism.”

Natural Resource Defense Council. (2021, July 9). Flint water crisis: Everything you need to know. NRDC. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/flint-water-crisis-everything-you-need-know.

Ecological engineering of riverbanks for human use has caused many negative impacts on waterways— erosion, eutrophication, sedimentation.  Ecosystems can be restored, improving the ecosystem services they can provide.

Oil spills have immediate and long-term effects on the environment and economy. See what the impacts of the BP Deepwater Horizon spill had on the existence of an island and the productivity of shrimp fishing.