TY - JOUR
T1 - Identifying the Causes, Consequences, and Solutions to the Flint Water Crisis Through Collaborative Modeling
AU - Gray, Steven
AU - Singer, Alison
AU - Schmitt-Olabisi, Laura
AU - Introne, Josh
AU - Henderson, Jane
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank the Community Foundation of Greater Flint and MSU’s University Outreach and Engagement who funded this research. In addition, they thank all workshop participants, as well as Patrick O’Neal, Tryphena Clarke, Lynn Williams, Isaiah Oliver, Kyle Metta, Maddie Gorman, Rene Wallace, and espe- cially Robert Brown and Artina Sadler for their support and collaboration.
Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright 2017, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
PY - 2017/10
Y1 - 2017/10
N2 - The impacts of the Flint Water Crisis (FWC) present municipal and state officials, emergency responders, community organizations, and residents with considerable uncertainties about how to reorganize and respond in the wake of tragedy. In addition to the collapse of infrastructure and governance systems, the community is experiencing a collapse of its communication and knowledge-sharing networks, specifically between those directly impacted by the crisis and those involved in the emergency response. In this article, we summarize what we learned from a community engagement process that took place in the winter and spring of 2016 after widespread acknowledgment of the FWC and review the (1) results of five "participatory modeling" workshops with residents carried out in the city of Flint and (2) results of a follow-up cultural consensus survey administered to Flint residents and FWC responders engaged in the recovery to evaluate the degree of agreement among actors about the dynamics of the FWC. The modeling exercise revealed that Flint residents perceive that long-term racial and economic marginalization and political disenfranchisement led to the FWC. Cultural consensus data indicate that nonresidents are less likely to share this view about the causes of the crisis; however, there was more agreement between Flint residents and nonresidents around the consequences of, and solutions to, the FWC. Agreement around potential solutions is encouraging, but if recovery efforts fail to address Flint residents' underlying concerns about long-term marginalization and disenfranchisement, there is a risk of further erosion of trust and communication between residents, state officials, and emergency responders.
AB - The impacts of the Flint Water Crisis (FWC) present municipal and state officials, emergency responders, community organizations, and residents with considerable uncertainties about how to reorganize and respond in the wake of tragedy. In addition to the collapse of infrastructure and governance systems, the community is experiencing a collapse of its communication and knowledge-sharing networks, specifically between those directly impacted by the crisis and those involved in the emergency response. In this article, we summarize what we learned from a community engagement process that took place in the winter and spring of 2016 after widespread acknowledgment of the FWC and review the (1) results of five "participatory modeling" workshops with residents carried out in the city of Flint and (2) results of a follow-up cultural consensus survey administered to Flint residents and FWC responders engaged in the recovery to evaluate the degree of agreement among actors about the dynamics of the FWC. The modeling exercise revealed that Flint residents perceive that long-term racial and economic marginalization and political disenfranchisement led to the FWC. Cultural consensus data indicate that nonresidents are less likely to share this view about the causes of the crisis; however, there was more agreement between Flint residents and nonresidents around the consequences of, and solutions to, the FWC. Agreement around potential solutions is encouraging, but if recovery efforts fail to address Flint residents' underlying concerns about long-term marginalization and disenfranchisement, there is a risk of further erosion of trust and communication between residents, state officials, and emergency responders.
KW - communities
KW - lead poisoning
KW - public health
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85032871591&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85032871591&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1089/env.2017.0016
DO - 10.1089/env.2017.0016
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85032871591
SN - 1939-4071
VL - 10
SP - 154
EP - 161
JO - Environmental Justice
JF - Environmental Justice
IS - 5
ER -