On February 2, 2021, Noah Hall presented via Zoom to A&M students on the drinking water crisis that occurred in Flint, Michigan, beginning in 2014. From 2016-2019, Hall served as a special assistant attorney general for Michigan for the Flint water investigation. The presentation focused on how environmental law allowed the crisis to happen and where things went wrong in Flint.
After the Flint crisis occurred, Professor Hall served as the civil litigator special counsel. The investigation looked at fraud surrounding bonds for the new water treatment plant for Flint, the decision to switch to the Flint River and not treat the water, and the legionnaires’ disease outbreak covered up by officials. Professor Hall pushed back on the idea that the crisis occurred in Flint because the people were poor on the basis that public water systems should function properly, regardless of socioeconomic status. Since rates fund public water systems, the focus should be on making rates affordable while managing the system, not supporting the system. Professor Hall noted that what occurred in Flint should not have occurred. Nevertheless, because of Michigan’s political system, Professor Hall connected the dots between emergency city managers (unelected officials appointed by the state) and poor water supply choices. The switch from the Detroit water system to the Flint River, which was then not adequately treated, led to the entire crisis.
Professor Hall argued that, by design, environmental law allows for a tremendous amount of slippage in the system. The Flint crisis shows how small amounts of slippage in the law can lead to severe consequences. The level of lead in drinking water should be 0 ppb, but because of a cost/benefit analysis, it is 15 ppb. The way that the EPA measures lead in drinking water further amplifies the problem. Community samples have to be in the 90th percentile, which allows for outliers to occur as long as the average is correct, leading to entire neighborhoods with high lead levels. Then there are problems surrounding enforcement if even those levels still aren’t met. According to Hall, all that occurs with violations is another round of studies six months later and some wrist-slapping until an action plan is come up with years later. All of this and more occurred in Flint, and it led to the contaminated water.
Hall finished his presentation by emphasizing how withheld information can be deadly. He contended that what happened in Flint could happen anywhere with the wrong combination of events. The people of Flint were educated, engaged, and involved, and the crisis still occurred. Without an accountable government and proper enforcement of environmental regulations, Hall warned that incidents like Flint might continue.
For further viewing and information on the legionnaire’s outbreak, Hall suggested the Frontline episode “Flint’s Deadly Water,” which is free to stream online.