>> on "america tonight": the stung truth. flint michigan's water so toxic it's led to a state of emergency. and fear a generation has been poisoned. >> to know that this is something that could have been prevented, it wasn't bought people lied and didn't do their jobs makes me sick. >> "america tonight's" are lori jane gliha, investigates and asks who will take responsibility. >> yes we're concerned. >> you won't say you're sorry? >> i -- >> thanks for joining us i'm joie chen. it is almost unimaginable, what's happened in flint, michigan. a man made disaster the mayor says ha that has led to families giving their children poisoned

water. this has been going on for a year and a half, despite pleas from families, how is this even possible? "america tonight's" lori jane gliha, investigates what happened in flint an flint and e city's children were left to suffer. >> they are not people that are disposable. we are not. it is a crime to be serviced with water that's classified by the epa as toxic waste. >> at rhonda kalso's house in flint, merrill lynch -- >> i have a filter up under here. >> reporter: this is one of the certified ones that filters out the lead? >> filters out the lead. the 52-year-old stroke survivor says she still won't drink it.

>> i have to rely on family members and friends to take me places. and help me to go and get bottled water. this is water that came out the tap, look at this green at the bottom. >> it was only a few months ago whether she says she collected this from her unfiltered faucet. >> it came out brown. >> reporter: at a time whether state and city officials insisted the water was okay to drink. >> yes it's orangey when it settles all the way down. >> for mean a year now rhonda and tens of thousands of flint residents, mostly minorities and many low income have been without certainty that their drinking water is safe. most recently hers tested positive for high amounts of lead, a toxic element especially dangerous for children. >> look at the other pumpkin. do you want the pumpkin back? >> rhonda's daughter kaitlin is

developmentally delayed and has a heart condition. >> when you hear lead poisoning and lead problems in the water, what did that do for the family? >> it raises your anxiety level, it gives you the unknown. i feel like i'm numb, rebuilding from a water issue. in my home. in addition to reply daughter being exposed to lead. >> how much had she been drinking the water? >> it was almost a year that i got my own filter to put in there. we were drinking the water and we were exposed and we were cooking with the water. >> it's going to rain. >> it's overwhelming and there's just something that every day you have to deal with. >> put it back up there an the banister. >> reporter: flint's water problems started whether the city under the control of a

manager, opted to get its water from the city of detroit. that move said the city would save upwards of $3 million. but that meant it would not source from lake huron and instead would source from the flint river. at the time officials celebrated the switch. soon after there were problems with discolored water and eventually news of lead. a year and a half later flint switched back to detroit water. >> well, the kindest thing you could possibly say is they were completely incompetent, sloppy, lazy and uncaring. >> specializes in water treatment. his team has independently tested water samples at hundreds of homes throughout the city. >> when we first got the results we just didn't believe it. it was hazardous waste levels of

led coming out of this person's tap. two and a half times hazardous waste levels of lead in the water. >> turns out, it was so corrosive even after going through water treatment control plant, that it started to eat into the lead pipes, causing the lead to leech into the water. >> what makes it so corrosive? >> it's high chloride in it. it's perfectly fine for fish, and to canoe in. but the salt level in the water will eat into pipes. that's what happened in flint. >> even though the water in the river is not as a water source, people in flint are at orisk. >> we know from history that this can cause death, it can cause miscarriages, it can cause elevated blood lead. all kinds of health effects.

>> is the water safe? >> it is probably going to be another month or two before we can say it's meeting federal standards. >> we have no idea the enormity of the exposure. we are assuming every child is exposed. >> if director of the pediatric department. she determined the situation caused a spike in problems with children. >> in ten years there's going to be more kids with adhd diagnosis and in 15, 20 years there will be more kids with violent behavior and problems with the criminal justice system. >> we don't see them now, we see the problems later. >> now, in the schools, they only allow the kids to drink

bottled water. >> it was jaw-dropping to realize what had been going on. and i think what made me physically mad was that it didn't have to happen. it was preventible. >> check to see if water's boiling? you want to help me? >> yep. >> many flint residents like amber whitman, worry about future health effects. she has a seven-year-old and another on the way. >> when this has been going on and no one has been aware of it for long periods of time, it would concern any parent. because most of the damage that is caused from lead is irreversible. >> amber is also concerned about her grand plotting. 70-year-old amy penrose. >> they found a noticed on my kidney. my granddaughter researched it and said you can get kidney

problems from drinking the water contaminated with lead. >> it has all your different tips depending on what kind of sink you have. >> the state is distributing free filters similar to this to help people like amber and amy. it is also providing free water testing to flint residents and pledged $9 million to help mitigate the crisis. but with a financially troubled city with 42% living in poverty the ongoing lead crisis is a mounting burden. >> we were already having trouble trying to purchase just food and now what little assistance i have from the state has to completely go towards water. in the meantime our water bill even though we're not using it is like $120 a month. >> woo hoo, bottled water! >> amber uses food stamps to buy bottled water for cooking and drinking. >> it frustrates me when i see

things online, people who don't live in flint say why don't you just move? it is not that easy. we financially can't move. we're stuck here. there's nothing we can do about it. >> amy penrose says the people at flint deserve an explanation why the completely has been at risk for so long. >> you have a responsibility. when you take that office you are there to protect me. you are there to protect my friends. you there are to protect my family. there are no excuses. >> next "america tonight's" lori jane gliha follows up with tough questions for the people in charge. >> how do you think you're going to regain the public trust when you just sat here and told me what you told the public was not true? and that over time, they've pretty much all been exposed to lead? >> and hot on "america tonight's" website now, could a

party drug help veterans with ptsd? at aljazeera.com/americatonight.

>> a community in crisis. now before the break, "america tonight's" lori jane gliha began her investigation into the water crisis now in flint, michigan. it is frightening. even the city's mayor has labeled it a man made disaster. the tap water so full of lead and other toxins the city declared a state of emergency. now "america tonight's" lori jane gliha continues her investigation with tough

questions for the officials in charge. >> i got the jelly. >> you got the jelly? >> yes. >> when gavin walters weight gain wasn't keeping up with his twin garrett. his mother fold up. >> to know that something could have been prevented, that wasn't, because people lied and didn't do their jobs makes me sick. >> i want water. >> you want water? >> gavin who already suffers from a compromised immune syst system, suffers from contamination of lead. >> he's a 6.5 shouldn't be over a 5. >> lee ann says the problem came from the city provided water running from her faucet. state tests proved hers has the

highest levels that the city had ever seen. >> it shows you the max is 15. >> another independent evaluation by virginia tech researchers showed the levels to be that of hazardous waste. >> oh my god i'm poisoning my kids. if you have issues the question would be, would he have had these issues, if he had not had lead poisoning. >> before tests confirmed it lee ann said city and state officials dismissconcerns when she publicly declared something was wrong with the water. >> i wasn't stupid. i decided to get the science. >> lee ann set out to prove them wrong and helped to alert the city a bigger crisis lurking in

the pipes, covered up by the officials tasked with keeping the community safe. >> they thought it was flint, no one was going to care, they were wrong. >> there needs to be a full independent investigation. people need to be put under oath to answer questions because they have not told the truth multiple times. >> kurt guyette is within the american civil liberties union. they filed suit against the state for failing to notify citizens. >> i don't think there'sfully doubt, but the question here is was there gross negligence? >> the state publicly down played the possibility of lead contamination for months. these e-mails show the ongoing concern about the situation in flint, others, show the lack of treatment to keep the water safe. >> they knew it was a problem and their response was, people

can just relax. that to me is unconscionable. >> guyette is not the only one who has concerns. flint residents continue to rally. >> i don't know why there aren't vans from the state distributing water to each and every home. i've seen kids with every strike against them and now their water's poisoned. >> it comes down to motive for me, allow can they hide these things 18 months? the inaction on that is ridiculous. >> the state agency tasked with testing the drinking water for safety can still trying too explain what went wrong. >> there was no nefarious intent to put flint at risk. let me be real clear about that. i have said mistakes were made. >> dan wyatt heads the michigan department of environmental quality. >> we all being the state, city and federal government at each we have a plan iepa

have a plan in place that will eliminate the problem at flint. i've apologized for those who brought the issue forward because of our tone. >> are you sorry that the people of flint don't have fresh drinking water? >> i am concerned. and certainly recognize that that's an issue for the city of flint. and so yes. why are concerned. >> but you won't say you're sorry? >> i -- i recognize flint. is anxious and concerned about it. and i feel the plan that we have addresses the issue and we are committed to seeing that plan through. >> during an october press conference, wyatt announced flint was using proper precautions to stop lead

leaching into the water supply. those are known as corrosion control. >> know that whether the city switched the city utilized corrosion controls. >> he now admits his public statement was wrong. >> when you said corrosion control was in place in flint, was that true? >> no. corrosion control is a term of art. and there are multiple corrosion control techniques. i want to be real clear. flint needed more corrosion control. and we understand that. >> so would you call what you said then, sint it wasn' since , a lie? >> no, i wouldn't call it a lie and it certainly wasn't misrepresent anything. >> how do you think you're going to regain the public trust when you just sat here and told me what you told the public was not true? >> no, what i said to you was true. and it was not that it wasn't

true. what i do want to indicate is to get the public trust back, that will only come again from our actions. and it will be demonstrated through our action he. and that includes resources to eliminate lead exposure. it includes transparency with respect to our testing process. >> water expert mark edwards says not only did government officials mislead the public, the city and state method for collecting and testing flint's water was also misleading. >> why is it importantly for you to have a water at a wide mouth instead of a skinny mouth? >> in flint, it would keep the lead in the pipe and out of the sample this consumers were collecting. again when they used a normal bottle, and filled it up normally, lead levels would be very, very high. if you used the bottle that the

state was using with the tiny opening, it looked like it was safe. >> significantly higher lead levels in flint. >> when we came out with our advice that flint water is unsafe on the website, and gave people instructions how to avoid the lead in the water, m.d. said it was safe and don't listen. >> to ensure we are identifying risk. >> overall if you could give yourself a grade what would you give yourself? >> i'm going to have to let others grade me. i'm not able to put a grade on that. >> do you think you deserve an a? >> no. >> do you think you deserve an f? >> no. >> how does this look different than flint? >> welt, it's clear. >> to lee ann walters who has

since moved to virginia, the state of michigan failed her. >> when will i.t. be done for her? >> when people are held accountable. it's not just a michigan problem now but people don't realize that. >> how concerned are you that the exact same thing could happen in flint, in another city? >> we have 1300 lead pipes in this country. we don't know where they are. time and time again, when people realize i'm sick or my daughter or child has lead poisoning, they don't find lead in dust, or paint, they find out it's the water. >> "america tonight's" lori jane gliha joins us, to follow up. lori jane, i understand the federal authorities are manage, isn't this taken you up a up one federal level? >> yes, the epa was doing an audit what they were supposed to have done.

but there are rules that the federal government should be testing water to make sure there is no lead in it. lee ann walters, who had the high plead levels, they came to washington to talk about the rules, the lead and copper rule, there are these loopholes that can let lead get into water with no one knows knowing it. it's been a lengthy process to look at these rules to see whether they can tighten these things and help stop a future incident happening like flint. >> if i go to a tap in flint and turn on the water, is that safe to drink now? >> it depends who you want to believe. certain themes don't have any lead piping, or any line going into their house, may be completely safe. but the problem is the lead

pipes have been destroyed, the lead has been flaking off. they're going to have to replace the infrastructure and get back to a way. in order to get back to normal, there's time to deal with this and putting in controls and using the filters to make sure what you're drinking is absolutely safe. >> what about the governor declaring a state of emergency? i understand what there marines in a tornado or an earthquake. what does it mean here? judge to get the attention from the authorities. there have been advocates all along, that said i wish the state could declare a disaster zone so we could get federal funding to repair the infrastructure. it's not going to last as long as it should have. >> and this is a economic that has economic challenges to begin with. >> this is a community that's strapped for cash. it was directed buy state-appointed city manager, emergency manager because they

were having troubles with their finances. it's going to be a long road. >> "america tonight's" lori jane gliha, thanks. hiding in plain sight, behind tinsel town's front is a major environmentalist tragedy brewing. >> part of the pattern of the city as a whole.

>> finally, a turn to another community one that fears that it too is being poisoned by the coalitiocoalitionexploitation o.

michael okwu has the story. >> look closer you'll see a whole other kind of production going on. los angeles has win of the largest concentrations of petroleum in the world. and pumping oil is part of the backdrop of living in l.a. sometimes the drilling is behind the scenes. no office workers in this building. it's actually disguising an oil rig. and so is this one down the street. many of the more than 3,000 oil wells in l.a. county are hiding in plain sight. like this building on a busy street in south la. but a bird's eye view tells the story. this is one of at least 17 oil sites in the city of los angeles. dangerously close to schools, homes and churches. according to a recent study by the community health councils. many are in low income neighborhoods. it appears this site and nearly all the other ones in l.a.

haven't been subjected to an environmental impact report in nearly 30 years. >> the city of los angeles has never done any environmental review. even less than a full environmental impact report. for any project at any well site in the city of los angeles that i have been able to find. >> michael salman is a history professor at ucla and a local resident. he spent hundreds of hours looking into how the city is regulating its oil fields. >> the failure to do environmental reviews is part of a larger pattern of this city as a whole. >> the city has given exemptions to oil companies who wanted to drill new wells. addinadding old will or adding significant equipment. >> city given a pass for

environmental reviews. >> lack of evidence to support that. >> there is no evidence to support the fact that errs are franted on a regular basis? >> there is no evidence to support there is runner stamping on any project that impedes on the health and safety of the residents. >> michael sal mansays this is an embarrassment for the greenest state of all. >> not only in california but here in urban los angeles, it's going in the wrong direction. >> michael okwu, al jazeera, los angeles. >> since michael okwu did that report a review by california state officials found that there were major problems with the oversight of many of l.a.'s oil wells. they say these problems were caused by routine failures such as failing to ensure that the wells were properly inspected or

they met the requirements of federal law. that's the show tonight, tell us what you think at aljazeera.com/americatonight. f we'll have more of "america tonight," tomorrow. >> surprise visit. >> we are making good progress against the enemy and sometimes it's hard to see because it's incremental. >> defense secretary ash carter goes to baghdad to offer more military support to reluctant iraqi leaders. broken truce. yemen's day old ceasefire and peace talks are in danger of collapse with both sides blaming the other. rates rising. >> i think it's important not to