By Anna Clark and Sarahbeth Maney, Photography by Sarahbeth Maney:

by Anna Clark and Sarahbeth Maney, Photography by Sarahbeth Maney




ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your Flint, Michigan, is less than 70 miles from the Great Lakes, the most abundant fresh water on the face of the planet. It's laced with creeks and a broad river that bears its name. Yet in 2014, Flint's drinking water became a threat -- not because of scarcity, or a natural disaster, or even a familiar tale of corporate pollution. Ten years ago this spring, public officials made catastrophic changes in the city's water source and treatment, then used testing practices that hid dangers.