[Live Webinar] Engineering Ethics: Lessons from the Flint Water Crisis — When Public Safety Was Not Held Paramount

In 2014, the City of Flint, Michigan, changed its drinking water source to the Flint River without implementing required corrosion-control treatment.

As a result, the highly corrosive water caused lead to leach from aging pipes into the drinking water supply, disproportionately affecting low-income and minority communities. Residents were exposed to contaminated water, leading to serious health effects including elevated blood lead levels in children, skin and hair problems, and an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease that caused multiple deaths.

Despite widespread complaints about discolored, foul-smelling water, officials maintained for more than a year that the water was safe.

This case represents not only a failure of public decision-making, but also a profound failure of engineering ethics.

The webinar begins with a clear, fact-based overview of the events that led to the Flint water crisis, including the change in the water source, the absence of corrosion-control treatment, and the resulting contamination and lead poisoning of the public water supply. Participants will develop an understanding of the technical and decision-making timeline that led to the failure.

The crisis came to national attention through the efforts of residents and independent investigators. These included LeeAnne Walters, a Flint resident whose family experienced serious health impacts; Curt Guyette, an investigative reporter from the ACLU of Michigan; Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician who documented elevated lead levels in children; Miguel Del Toral of the EPA, who challenged the state’s compliance with the Lead and Copper Rule; and Professor Marc Edwards of Virginia Tech, whose team conducted independent water testing and disputed official assurances of safety.

The second part examines the growing gap between engineering knowledge and the decisions being made. Warning signs were present. Data existed. Engineers and experts raised concerns. Yet, critical decisions continued to be made that did not adequately protect public safety. This section places participants in the position of engineers and decision-makers facing real-world pressures—cost, schedule, authority, and institutional constraints.

The final part focuses on engineering ethics, with particular emphasis on Fundamental Canon 1 of the Code of Ethics for Engineers:

“Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public.”

The webinar examines how failure to uphold this fundamental obligation was a central factor in the creation, continuation, and escalation of the crisis.

The webinar concludes with key lessons learned and practical tools that engineers can use in their professional practice to recognize ethical risks, respond to pressure, and act to protect public safety.

This webinar is not only about understanding a past failure, it is about equipping engineers with the awareness and tools needed to prevent similar failures in the future.