Over 100 people attended a rally in Flint, Michigan, on Saturday in protest of the community's man-made water fiasco.

Residents, elected officials and environmental activists spoke out at The Unite for Justice rally, which was held at the Bethel United Methodist Church, reported The Flint Journal. Flint residents also received free water at the gathering.

Residents in Flint -- a municipality that is 56 percent black and one of the poorest cities in the country -- have been suffering from a lack of clean tap water for over a year.

Their drinking water first became contaminated with lead shortly after officials decided to start using the Flint River as a water supply in April 2014 in order to save money, reports The New York Times. That's when community member began complaining that their tap water had a nasty smell and taste and caused rashes. For months, officials told the community that the water was safe to use for bathing and cooking. However, researchers discovered elevated levels of toxic lead in children's blood, prompting officials to finally take action in the fall of 2015.

Back in October, Gov. Rick Snyder switched the water supply from the Flint River back to Lake Huron. He also began distributing free water filters to residents and issued an apology to residents two months later in December.

Meanwhile, federal authorities launched an investigation into the water contamination last week, while Snyder declared the city to be in a state of emergency on Tuesday.

"Their one job was to make sure our water was safe," said Flint resident Melissa Mays about state environmental officials to the NYT. Mays added that she is concerned about how the damage that the water might have on her young sons' health.

"They cut every corner," she said. "They did more to cover up than actually fix it. That's criminal."

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