Beware of simplistic narratives. It now looks like Flint took on the very tough job of water treatment as a jobs / stimulus program[1] -- something they turned out to be completely incompetent at -- and also as a way to resolve a pricing spat with Detroit over water supply.
As well the Michigan DEQ shoulders a lot of the blame for covering up the issues.
1. http://reason.com/blog/2016/01/25/the-flint-water-crisis-is-...
