Anna Clark's 'Poisoned City' Explores the Crisis in Flint, Mich.

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The still-evolving public health crisis that emerged in Flint, Mich. over its lead-tainted water serves as a cautionary tale for every city and town in America. In 2014, the city switched its water supply from Lake Huron and the Detroit River to the cheaper Flint River, exposing more than 100,000 city residents (and more than 8,000 school-aged children) to contaminated drinking water. The urban neglect that ultimately led to this catastrophe resulted in the declaration of local, state and federal states of emergency in Flint as well as ensuing lawsuits, several criminal investigations, numerous firings and 15 criminal indictments. Economically, the city is facing almost $400 million in future costs to the city and thousands of cumulative years of poor health for those affected.

In the first complete account of this tragedy, Michigan journalist Anna Clark traces a meticulous course through the public mismanagement of the emergency, the citizens most deeply affected by the crisis and the underlying racial subtext of the entire situation. Her comprehensive reporting is published in a new book, The Poisoned City: Flint’s Water and the American Urban Tragedy, which Clark will discuss at Marquette University (Weasler Auditorium) at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 23. This event is free but registration is required.

Clark is a Detroit-based journalist whose writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, ELLE Magazine and other publications. She served as editor of A Detroit Anthology, which was named a Michigan Notable Book, and she has also been a Fulbright fellow in Kenya and a Knight-Wallace journalism fellow at the University of Michigan. This event is co-sponsored by Boswell Book Co.