BBC Documentaries

Flint (2020x212)

Air date: Dec 01, 2020

Flint is the birthplace of General Motors and was once one of the most prosperous cities in the world. However, in the 1980s, the automobile industry in Flint collapsed, costing thousands of jobs and beginning a grim economic decline. Against this backdrop, Rick Snyder rose to power on a promise to run government like a business. As Michigan’s governor, he stripped Flint’s city council of its power, and his administrators raised water prices to balance the books. They then forced the city to use water from the Flint River in order to save more money. Almost immediately, it became clear something was wrong. In many homes the water turned brown, with residents reporting an increase in illness and rashes. At the last remaining General Motors assembly plant in Flint, car parts began to rust. Despite growing protests, the government insisted the water was perfectly safe. When Scotland-based film-maker Anthony Baxter arrived on the scene, he found Flint residents taking matters into their own hands, pulling together in a remarkable community effort to get at the truth. Hundreds of volunteers took part in a city-wide testing of Flint’s water. Rock band promoter and mother of three Melissa Mays helped lead the effort in partnership with decorated scientist Marc Edwards. Professor Edwards concluded that Flint was the site of a man-made health disaster. Because state officials didn’t treat the river water properly to prevent corrosion, it had eaten away at Flint’s old lead pipes, unleashing lead particles through the drinking water supply. For more than a year, lead had been finding its way into the bloodstreams of more than 10,000 of the city's children. Narrated by Alec Baldwin, this documentary explores the untold story of the man-made disaster that continues to haunt America to this day.