Flint Water Crisis: Curt Guyette on the KWA Pipeline Project

Photo Illustration by Robert Nixon via Metro Times.

If you are trying to understand how the KWA pipeline project is intertwined with the Flint Water Crisis, this story by the Michigan ACLU's Curt Guyette in the Metro Times is essential reading.

Last year, a task force appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder to investigate the causes of the disaster urged prosecutors to do a "complete and thorough review of the development and approval of KWA and of the City of Flint's commitments to KWA water purchases." 

Since then, four officials — including two of the city's former emergency managers — have been charged for allegedly using false pretenses to obtain an $85 million loan needed to finance Flint's share of the new pipeline.
And then there's a report issued earlier this year by the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, which spent nearly a year investigating the crisis to determine what role, if any, racism played in creating this completely avoidable manmade disaster.

Read the rest here.

Flint Water Crisis Event with Curt Guyette and Gordon Young

Flint Water Crisis: Curt Guyette Named Michigan Journalist of the Year

Investigative journalist Curt Guyette, who ran the news department at Detroit Metro Times for nearly two decades, was named "Journalist of the Year" by the Michigan Press Association for his work at the ACLU of Michigan exposing the Flint water crisis.

Michael Jackman of the Metro Times reports:

"While the city and state were still insisting that the city’s analyses of the water supply showed the water to be safe, Guyette began to uncover evidence to the contrary. After a draft EPA memo was given to Guyette exclusively by a resident, Guyette became the first to break news that water tests conducted by an independent expert, Marc Edwards of Virginia Tech, showed that the water quality in one Flint family’s home was so contaminated that it met federal qualifications for toxic waste. 

"Guyette and the ACLU of Michigan then joined with a coalition of Flint residents, Edwards and his team to collect nearly 300 water samples from homes throughout the city. As Guyette reported, Edwards’ tests proved that the lead contamination in Flint was severe and potentially widespread, posing an especially significant threat to the city’s children. 

"Combing through reams of public documents, Guyette also broke news of flaws in the city’s testing protocols, which produced misleading results that were reported to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Moreover, Guyette’s efforts also raised concerns about the MDEQ’s oversight of the water tests and the US Environmental Protection Agency ‘s response to the burgeoning crisis."