Residents of the majority-Black city of Flint, Michigan, which is the birthplace of General Motors, are subjected to unsafe levels of lead and other contaminants in their drinking water after the city switches their water supply source to the highly-polluted Flint River to save money.

Despite numerous complaints about discolored and foul-smelling water, city officials maintain that the water is safe until a study by researchers at Virginia Tech proves the water contains high levels of lead. Residents experience flu-like symptoms and other forms of illness, as well as an increase in miscarriages and an outbreak of Legionnaires disease that kills 12 people. Somewhere between 10,000 to 12,000 children are exposed to high levels of lead.

Local residents will petition the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to launch an emergency response, which it declines to do.