>> we spoke with matt mcfarland. he had worked at the plant for about 20 years before this happened. loved his job. very passionate about it. in the lead up to the switch, matt was responsible for doing a lot. some of what he was responsible for was operating the systems that killed bacteria. he knew in the lead up that those systems were not working. matt was very nervous before the switch actually took place. he was calling his sister. he was trying to get a supervisor to delay the switch to not make them run. he spoke to other people at the plant. state officials shut it down. no matter what, we are going to run anyway. matt called his sister the night before they switched the water. tell everyone you know and love and flint not to drink the water. people are going to die. >> government officials knew. >> yes. state officials who were in charge of the city of flint at the time were aware that the plant needed more time and they needed more staff and better equipment. >> we are talking about pbs frontline new docume

. >> we spoke to matt mcfarland. he worked at the plant for about 20 years before this happened he lost his job because he was very passionate and in the lead up to this he was responsible for the planned but some of that was operating the systems that kill the bacteria and he knew in the lead up to this which those systems were not working so he was very nervous before the switch took place. he was calling his sister and getting his supervisor to delay the switch. he spoke to others and state officials shut it down and said no matter what. he called his sister the night before they actuallyy. switched and said tell everyone you know you love and flint do not drink the water or they will die. what we know is state officials in charge of the city of flint at the time that the plant needed more time and more staff and better equipment. >> talked about pbs frontline new documentary with the producer and director we will get to your questions and comments. also we will show our viewers a little bit from the documentary.

. >> narrator: but inside the plant, we've learned t lt a foreman named matt mcfarland was having concernsid, "we're not ready." he said the plant wasn't ready.n the funding just wasn't there. the staffing wasn't there. there was a lot that would need to be done, and it would take time. >> narrator: mcfarland died in 2016, but while working at the water plt, he regularly confidedn his sistja petrla. this is the first time she's spoken publicly about her brother's concerns. >> he would call me, a he would just be so upsetand he would leave me messas that wereweust frantic, like, "to "a, you have to ll me right away. please call me right away." i mean, he knew that they >> narrator: as the deadline approached, mcfarland expressed his concerns to his supervisors. one of them, mike glasgow, had concerns, too. he wouldn't speak to us, but in an email, he told state were to open on schedule, "it will be against my direction." later told investigators hest ver received a response. >> the city right now is just testing and treating this war. they're not using it in the drinking water yet. they hop

guest: we spoke to matt mcfarland, he had worked at the plant for about 20 years before this happenedhis job, was very passionate about it. in the lead up to the switch, matt was responsible for doing a lot of the plant, but some of what he was responsible for was operating the system that killed bacteria. he knew in the lead-up to the switch that those systems were not working, and he was very nervous before the switch actually took place. he was calling his sister, trying to get a supervisor to delay the switch and not make them run. he spoke to other people at the plant. state officials shut it down and said, no matter what, we are going to run anyway. matt calls his sister the day before they switch, and says, tell everyone you know and love in flint not to drink the water, people are going to die. host: and government officials knew? guest: yes. what we know is that state officials in flint at the time were aware that the plant needed more time and more staff and better equipment. host: we are talking about pbs frontline's new documentary "flint that he water." water, witheadly t