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What would you do if your tap water turned brown? If it gave your children a rash every time they took a bath? Or worse, what if it made them sick? Read, watch, and listen to the stories below to uncover the wild story about how the water in Flint became Not Safe To Drink. And you can find ALL of our coverage of the Flint Water Crisis here.

TIMELINE: Here's how the Flint water crisis unfolded

The Flint River and the Flint water treatment plant.
Steve Carmody
/
Michigan Radio
The Flint River and the Flint water treatment plant.

The Environmental Protection Agency launched a federal audit -- Governor Rick Snyder appointed a panel to look into it -- and there is a federal class action lawsuit underway.

Everyone wants to know how the water went bad in one of Michigan's biggest cities.

Michigan Radio has been on top of this story from the start. See all our coverage here. Read, watch, and listen to our special series Not Safe to Drink here. And listen to our documentary here.

To get a sense of how this happened in Michigan, scroll through the timeline below.


Scrolling through the timeline, you get a sense for how the state takeover in Flint led to a series of decisions that were more than just "not fully understood," as Snyder later put it, but seemingly negligent in how officials reacted to mounting evidence that the water was poisoning some kids in the city.

A revolving door of emergency managers who are not accountable to the people of Flint seemed to think the city had an image problem, not an actual problem with lead in its water supply.

See the major moments as they unfolded below.

(If the timeline doesn't load correctly for you below, go here.)

Mark Brush was the station's Digital Media Director. He succumbed to a year-long battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, in March 2018. He was 49 years old.
Lindsey Smith helps lead the station'sAmplify Team. She previously served as Michigan Public's Morning News Editor, Investigative Reporter and West Michigan Reporter.
Rebecca Williams is senior editor in the newsroom, where she edits stories and helps guide news coverage.
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