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The dramatic story of the signature environmental disaster of our time and an inspiring tale of relentless citizen resistance in the face of corrupt power Flint was already a troubled city in 2014 when the state of Michigan - in the name of austerity - shifted the source of its water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River. Soon after, citizens began complaining about the water that flowed from their taps - but officials rebuffed them, insisting it was fine. Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician at the city's public hospital, took state officials at their word and encouraged the parents and children in her care to continue drinking the water - after all, it was American tap water, blessed with the state health department's seal of approval. But a conversation at a cookout with an old friend, leaked documents from a rogue inspector, and the activism of a concerned mother raised red flags about lead - a neurotoxin whose irreversible effects fall most heavily on children.