Perhaps the most riveting and disturbing session this past summer at the Television Critics Association tour was the panel for Flint, a Lifetime original movie that premieres this Saturday, October 28. It shines a much-needed light on the long-time and still ongoing water crisis in the title city, one that has taken hundreds of lives, continues to sicken thousands and remains a low priority for politicians on the state and federal levels regardless of which side of the aisle they reside on. That is to say everybody talks about it, and occasional small steps have been taken since its onset in 2014, but the situation remains critical and dangerous and is easily forgotten amid the recent natural disasters, mass shootings and political maneuverings that have dominated the news of late. (For background, read this detailed account of the crisis as reported by NPR or look at CNN’s itemized recap of the crisis from beginning to present.) Here’s a fact that would be fun were it not so disconcerting: Bothered by the maddening inertia in Flint, an eleven-year-old girl in Lone Tree, Colorado, recently rolled up her sleeves and came up with a way to potentially save hundreds of thousands of people in that city and elsewhere from sickness or worse brought on by contaminated water.
Lifetime Brings Renewed Attention to the Flint Water Crisis
