After two years of reporting, the FRONTLINE documentary Flint’s Deadly Water debuted on September 10. The film offers an eye-opening account of how a public health disaster, that subjected thousands of children to lead poisoning, also spawned one of the largest outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease in U.S. history.
Shawn McElmurry, Dr. Paul Kilgore and Dr. Marcus Zervos sat on a scientific panel that was formed to investigate the source of the deadly Legionnaire’s disease outbreak in Flint, Michigan. The state had switched the city’s drinking water supply to the Flint River, and the outbreak of the disease coincided with the switch, but the public wasn’t notified for over a year.
RELATED STORY:
The three men were growing increasingly concerned as summer approached, because they knew how Legionnaire’s disease (a severe form of pneumonia caused by the waterborne legionella bacteria) operates. They knew that once the weather got warmer, more people could die.
It was May 2016, and it had been four months since Michigan Governor Rick Snyder alerted the public to the existence of the outbreak and the creation of the panel. However, according to the panel members, the state health department had still not officially authorized them to begin working.
RELATED STORY:
So, the three men set up a meeting in May with state health director Nick Lyon to notify him that it was urgent to step up monitoring for Legionnaires’ cases. McElmurry, an engineering professor and the chair of the panel, told FRONTLINE:
“I remember, at one point, my colleague telling him that if he didn’t do that, people could die.”1
In the documentary, McElmurry continued saying:
“Unfortunately, Nick Lyon’s response was that ‘They’ll have to die of something.'”1
That’s just one of several disturbing incidents reported in new detail (or for the first time) in Flint’s Deadly Water. According to PBS:
By the time of the May meeting with Lyon, Flint’s water supply had been switched following public outrage about lead levels, and the Legionnaires’ outbreak, which had killed at least 12 people, had subsided. As the film details, the panel members — who have never before spoken publicly about their experience outside of court testimony — say the state repeatedly tried to impede their efforts to identify the outbreak’s source and prevent a recurrence.1
RELATED STORY:
In addition to his work on the panel, Zervos observed the outbreak’s impact up-close: He treated the youngest confirmed victim of the Flint Legionnaires’ outbreak, Jassmine McBride, in her final months. Zervos told FRONTLINE that he was “flabbergasted” by how he says Lyon responded to the warning. He said:
“It was a situation where you’re just, I mean, you’re just in shock as a result of him saying that — the director of the Health Department.”1
Nick Lyon refused to be interviewed. In a letter, his attorney said the team’s work was one of Lyon’s top priorities and blamed any delays on the scientists. When asked about Lyon’s remark about dying, he added:
“Director Lyon did not make that crass remark.”1
RELATED STORY:
While he remained in office, Lyon would ultimately be charged with involuntary manslaughter for failing to alert the public and allegedly covering up the Legionnaires’ outbreak. Prosecutors also accused Lyon of interfering in McElmurry’s investigation. Through his attorney, Lyon has maintained that he did nothing wrong. Earlier this year, a new prosecution team dropped all charges against him.
In the documentary, Flint city council member Eric Mays tells FRONTLINE:
“Most people outside of Flint look at the lead issue as the main issue. “But the killer has been Legionnaires’… I still don’t think that they want people outside of Flint to know.”1
