By Sara Jerome,

@sarmje

Several top officials in Crystal City, TX, were recently arrested by the FBI on corruption charges.

The circumstances have left local residents with little recourse amid a sudden tap water crisis that saw their tap water turn black and smelly.

“Not dark or murky water — black water,” Gawker reported.

Schools Superintendent Imelda Allen took matters into her own hands.

“She went ahead and did what she had to do: ordered hand sanitizer and bottled water for the district schools and trucked in huge five-gallon jugs to provide to cafeterias,” The Washington Post reported.

“I wasn’t going to wait for anyone to call me from City Hall,” Allen told KSAT. “I know that leadership is not present at the time.”

The spate of arrests was prompted by what is allegedly a deep level of corruption in the city.

“All but one top official in [the] city of 7,500, about 130 miles southwest of San Antonio, is facing some kind of criminal charge. The mayor, mayor pro tempore, a council member and the city manager were arrested this month on sweeping bribery and conspiracy charges. And another member of the city council is in a federal detention center after he admitted to smuggling undocumented Mexican immigrants across the border,” the Post reported.

“Mostly, [officials are] accused of taking bribes from a local gambling ringleader in exchange for allowing his illicit business to operate and snuffing out his competition. Then, the mayor was arrested again after allegedly scuffling with a local woman at a city council meeting,” Gawker reported.

The city has since weighed in on its black tap water, which locals are comparing to crude oil.

“The city said the problem occurred when the city's elevated water tank was drained for the first time in decades and built-up sediment in the bottom of the tank got into the water,” CNN reported.

For similar stories, visit Water Online’s Drinking Water Contaminant Removal Solutions Center.

Image credit: KNBC/YouTube