'Flints Deadly Water'
(DVD / PG-13 / 2019 / PBS)
Overview: Exposing the deadly toll from the Flint water crisis, this two-year Frontline investigation uncovers the roots and extent of a deadly Legionnaires' outbreak during the water crisis, and how officials failed to stop it.
DVD Verdict: The Flint water crisis has become known for the lead poisoning of thousands of children. But an exclusive new Frontline investigation reveals the story of another, deadly problem with the water unfolding at the same time - that few people know about.
Based on two years of enterprise reporting by a Frontline team in Flint, 'Flint's Deadly Water' documents an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease during the water crisis that has continued to claim lives in the city five years later.
The Flint water crisis began in 2014, after the drinking water source for the city of Flint, Michigan was changed from Lake Huron and the Detroit River to a less costly source of the Flint River.
Due to insufficient water treatment, lead leached from water pipes into the drinking water, exposing over 100,000 residents to elevated lead levels.
After a pair of scientific studies proved lead contamination was present in the water supply, a federal state of emergency was declared in January 2016 and Flint residents were instructed to use only bottled or filtered water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, and bathing.
Some officials asserted as of early 2017 that the water quality had returned to acceptable levels, but as of January 2019, residents and officials still express doubt.
All the lead service lines are being replaced, which is expected to be completed in late 2019 / early 2020. There are an estimated 2,500 lead service lines still in place as of April 2019.
Frontline's investigation here shows how people were getting sick and dying from the severe form of pneumonia caused by waterborne bacteria for more than a year before the public was notified.
Officially, twelve people in Flint died from the outbreak - but the Frontline investigation has found that the death toll was likely far higher.
With exclusive interviews, internal state emails and documents obtained by Frontline, and a sweeping analysis of every death in the county since the start of the water crisis, 'Flint's Deadly Water' is a comprehensive, richly detailed investigation that expands public understanding of the Flint water crisis - and asks whether anyone will ever be held accountable? This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.78:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs.
www.PBS.org