Flint, Mich., residents were paying the highest water rates in the country even as their pipes were poisoning them with lead, according to a watchdog study.
The Food and Water Watch study, released Tuesday, examined the country’s 500 largest water systems and found that Flint residents spent nearly twice the national average on water service — about $864 a year, the Detroit Free Press reports.
One of the study’s authors said the rate “far exceeds what the United Nations designates as affordable for water and sewer service,” pointing out that the U.N. says households should spend no more than 3% of income on water, while Flint residents paid 7%.
Read more: The Poisoning of an American City
A lawyer who has sued to reduce the rates says they were high in part because the city had diverted water funding for other uses. The city did not respond to the Free Press’s request for comment.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Why Trump’s Message Worked on Latino Men
- What Trump’s Win Could Mean for Housing
- The 100 Must-Read Books of 2024
- Sleep Doctors Share the 1 Tip That’s Changed Their Lives
- Column: Let’s Bring Back Romance
- What It’s Like to Have Long COVID As a Kid
- FX’s Say Nothing Is the Must-Watch Political Thriller of 2024
- Merle Bombardieri Is Helping People Make the Baby Decision
Contact us at letters@time.com