This qualifies as bombshell news, I think. Officials in Flint, Michigan, knew the Flint River was dangerously polluted but they went ahead and approved it for drinking water anyway. Wow.

FLINT, MI – State officials warned of potential health problems if Flint were to switch to the Flint River as its drinking water source, but the move went ahead with the state’s blessing despite the concerns, according to emails released by the Michigan’s governor’s office Friday morning.

Stephen Busch, with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s drinking water division, told other DEQ officials in a March 26, 2013, email that the use of the river could lead to multiple problems, including increased disinfectant by-products and microbials in the water, which could put the public’s health at risk.

According to Busch’s email, continuous use of the river could pose an increased microbial risk and risk of potentially cancer-causing disinfection by-products.

Both the disinfectant by-products and microbials — viruses and bacteria linked to disease — were discovered in the city’s water supply in the months after the city was switched to the river in April 2014.