“For want of a nail, the shoe was lost.This proverb is often quoted in regard to failure in battle and being unprepared.
For want of a shoe, the horse was lost.
For want of a horse, the rider was lost.
For want of a rider, the battle was lost.
For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.”
-- Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack
Like with how police officers don't have to pay when they lose lawsuits over misconduct--instead the city or county pays the judgement, e.g., Chicago pays out tens of millions of dollars each year ("Where is the risk management approach to police misconduct and regularized killings of citizens?"), government officials rarely pay the costs of their failures, instead, tax paying citizens pay.
But for whatever reason, the officials in charge of the water system, even though they knew it was required, did not add the suggested chemicals necessary to deal with the difference in water acidity between Detroit water and water from the Flint River.
For whatever reason, contrary to law the state agency overseeing water matters did not require the city to add the chemicals. And the city didn't have the money to pay for the equipment they needed to be able to add the chemicals anyway ("Why didn't Flint treat its water? An answer, at last," Detroit Free Press).
As a result, pipes corroded and lead leeched into the water.
The State of Michigan just agreed to pay $600 million to people disproportionately affected by the water problem ("Michigan to Pay $600 Million to Victims of Flint Water Crisis," New York Times).
.
There are other judgments that have been paid out also.
According to the Free Press, the cost of the necessary chemicals was $150/day, about $3,000/month.
That's a lot cheaper to pay out than $600 million. Even with some additional costs for new equipment.
While there has been a lot of discussion about how what happened is an illustration of the need to invest in infrastructure, and that's true ("Flint’s water crisis highlights need for infrastructure investment and innovation," Brookings Institution), the problem here is much simpler. Just basic failure to do the most basic requirements in your job.
Just because the State water agency failed to order the city to treat the water, the water officials in Flint understood that they needed to add anti-corrosion chemicals, because of the change in water source. But because they weren't ordered to do so, they didn't do it.
It's also an illustration of the failure to adopt modern risk management practices in government.
Dams. Also see, regulatory failures concerning dams in Michigan costs hundreds of millions of dollars in damage after dams were breached ("Midland, Michigan, failed dams, floods caused $200M in damages to 2,500 buildings," Bridge; "Displacing a problem doesn't solve it: an example of how restrained regulation can cost millions of dollars | Flooding in Mid-Michigan from a dam break").
Aerial photo of flooding in downtown Midland, Mich., Wednesday, May 20, 2020. (Photo: Kelly Jordan and Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
Explosive materials in the Port of Beirut. In recent memory, perhaps the biggest example of risk management failure to protect public health is the recent explosion of impounded fertilizer at the Port of Beirut.
Fertilizer, in the right conditions, can act like a bomb, and this was almost 3,000 metric tons of fertilizer ("Why Beirut's ammonium nitrate blast was so devastating," Nature).
A ship carrying the cargo had been impounded. The Port Authority wanted the fertilizer moved, but despite multiple entreaties to the country's courts, nothing happened, for 6 years. Evidentally, the courts did not understand the dangerous conditions created by the cargo impoundment ("Blame for Beirut Explosion Begins With a Leaky, Troubled Ship," New York Times).
Apparently a nearby fire likely triggered, the fertilizer, and the explosion killed more than 200 people, injured more than 5,000, left 300,000 people homeless and destroyed thousands of properties.
It led to massive political demonstrations and the fall of the national government.
It's an epic fail(ure) example of poor risk management.
Although after the explosion, ports elsewhere were motivated to determine whether or not they also have risk issues around fertilizer ("After Beirut explosion, ports around the world searched for ammonium nitrate," Washington Post).
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