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.
References
American Water Works Association (AWWA). 2014. Optimized Corrosion Control Treatment Primer. Retrieved from www.awwa.org.Search in Google Scholar
California Legislative Information (California). n.d. Senate Bill No. 1398, Chapter 731. Retrieved from http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1398.Search in Google Scholar
Davey, M., and M. Smith. 2016. “2 Former Flint Emergency Managers Charged Over Tainted Water.” The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/20/us/flint-water-charges.html?_r=0.Search in Google Scholar
Department of Homeland Security (DHS). 2003. Homeland Security Presidential Directive 7: Critical Infrastructure Identification, Prioritization, and Protection. Retrieved from https://www.dhs.gov/homeland-security-presidential-directive-7.Search in Google Scholar
Douglas, S. J. 2016. “Trump, Flint and Black Lives Matter.” In These Times 40 (3): 15.Search in Google Scholar
Egan, P. 2016. Flint report: Fix law on emergency managers. [Detroit Free Press] Retrieved from http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2016/10/19/flint-water-committee-sweeping-changes/92405150/.Search in Google Scholar
Environmental Protection Agency (EPAa). n.d. Information about Public Water Systems. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/dwreginfo/information-about-public-water-systems.Search in Google Scholar
Environmental Protection Agency (EPAb). n.d. Flint Drinking Water Response. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/flint.Search in Google Scholar
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 2009. Providing Safe Drinking Water in America: 2009 National Public Water Systems Compliance Report.Search in Google Scholar
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 2016. Lead and Copper Rule Revisions White Paper. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/dwstandardsregulations/national-drinking-water-advisory-council-ndwac-lead-and-copper-rule-working.Search in Google Scholar
Flint Water Study. n.d. The Virginia Tech Research Team. http://flintwaterstudy.org/about-page/about-us/.Search in Google Scholar
Giles, C. 2016. Emergency Administrative Order in the Matter of City of Flint, Michigan; Michigan Department of Environmental Quality; and the State of Michigan. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/flint/epa-safe-drinking-water-act-emergency-order.Search in Google Scholar
Greenberg, Michael R. 2016. “Delivering Fresh Water: Critical Infrastructure, Environmental Justice, and Flint, Michigan.” American Journal of Public Health 106 (8): 1358–1360. CINAHL Plus with Full Text, EBSCOhost (accessed August 20, 2016).10.2105/AJPH.2016.303235Search in Google Scholar
Grevatt, P. C. 2016. Clarification of Recommended Tap Sampling Procedures for Purposes of the Lead and Copper Rule.Search in Google Scholar
Halcom, C. 2016. “Flint Water Battle Lines.” Crain’s Detroit Business 32 (27): 0003.Search in Google Scholar
Joerges, B. 1988. “Large Technical Systems: Concepts and Issues.” In The development of large technical systems, edited by R. Mayntz and T. Hughes, 215–244. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Search in Google Scholar
Joint Select Committee on the Flint Water Emergency (Joint Select Committee). 2016. Flint Water Crisis: Report of the Joint Select Committee on the Flint Water Emergency. Retrieved from http://www.flintwatercommittee.com/.Search in Google Scholar
Katz, E. 2016. EPA Deflects Blame as It’s Accused of Massive Failures in Flint’s Water Crisis. Government Executive, 1.Search in Google Scholar
La Porte, T. R. 1996. “High Reliability Organizations: Unlikely, Demanding and At Risk.” Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management 4 (2): 60.10.1111/j.1468-5973.1996.tb00078.xSearch in Google Scholar
Lynch, J. 2015. Michigan DEQ vows changes in Flint water crisis. [The Detroit News] http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/environment/2015/10/18/deq-mistakes/74198882/.Search in Google Scholar
Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (MA EEA). n.d. Sampling for Lead & Copper. Retrieved from http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/massdep/water/drinking/how-to-collect-a-drinking-water-sample-for-lead-and-coppe.html.Search in Google Scholar
McEntire, D. A. 2004. The Status of Emergency Management Theory: Issues, Barriers, and Recommendations for Improved Scholarship. [Paper Presented at the FEMA Higher Education Conference June 8, 2004, Emmitsburg, MD].Search in Google Scholar
Orlando, Laura. 2016. “Is Your Water Worse Than Flint’s?.” In These Times 40 (4): 24–31. Readers’ Guide Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson), EBSCOhost (accessed August 20, 2016).Search in Google Scholar
Paine, M. 2016. Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Freedom of Information Act request with tracking code FOIA 505-17.Search in Google Scholar
Perrow, C. 1999. Normal Accidents. Princeton: Princeton university press.Search in Google Scholar
Perrow, C. 2007. The Next Catastrophe. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Reason, James. 2000. Human error: models and management. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1117770/.Search in Google Scholar
Safe Drinking Water System (SDWIS). n.d. The Safe Drinking Water System (SDWIS). Retrieved from https://www3.epa.gov/enviro/facts/sdwis/search.html. [This database is maintained by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.]Search in Google Scholar
Scheberle, D. 2004. Federalism and Environmental Policy. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Schulman, P., E. Roe, M. Van Eeten, and M. De Bruijne. 2004. “High Reliability and the Management of Critical Infrastructures.” Journal Of Contingencies and Crisis Management 12 (1): 14–28.10.1111/j.0966-0879.2004.01201003.xSearch in Google Scholar
Smith, L. 2016. MDEQ officials face criminal charges for common water testing practice. Retrieved from http://michiganradio.org/post/mdeq-officials-face-criminal-charges-common-water-testing-practice.Search in Google Scholar
State of Michigan, Office of the Attorney General (MI AG). n.d. Schuette Charges Six More in Flint Water Crisis: A Total of Nine Defendants So Far. Retrieved from http://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,4534,7-164-46849_47203-390055--,00.html.Search in Google Scholar
Van der Waldt, G. 2013. “Disaster Risk Management: Disciplinary Status and Prospects for a Unifying Theory.” Jàmbá 5 (2): 1–11.10.4102/jamba.v5i2.76Search in Google Scholar
Various. 2015. [e-mail chain between Federal EPA employees and MI DEQ employees] Retrieved from link #16 at http://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,4534,7-164-46849_47203-387198--,00.html.Search in Google Scholar
Voronov, M., and Weber, K. 2016. “The Heart of Institutions: Emotional Competence and Institutional Actorhood.” Academy of Management Review 41 (3): 456–478.10.5465/amr.2013.0458Search in Google Scholar
Williams, R., and L. Smith. 2015. Flint had no plan to minimize lead corrosion in people’s drinking water post river switch. [Michigan Radio, Oct 6, 2015] Retrieved from http://michiganradio.org/post/flint-had-no-plan-minimize-lead-corrosion-peoples-drinking-water-post-river-switch.Search in Google Scholar
©2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Military Provision of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief in Non-Conflict Crises
- The National Capabilities for Animal Response in Emergencies (NCARE) Study: An Assessment of US States and Counties
- The Flint Water Crisis and the Role of Professional Emergency Managers in Risk Mitigation
Articles in the same Issue
- Military Provision of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief in Non-Conflict Crises
- The National Capabilities for Animal Response in Emergencies (NCARE) Study: An Assessment of US States and Counties
- The Flint Water Crisis and the Role of Professional Emergency Managers in Risk Mitigation