Flint Declares Water Safe After Lead Pipe Replacement, But Residents Remain Skeptical

Flint, Michigan, has declared its water safe more than a decade after the city’s water crisis drew national attention. State officials report that 11,000 lead service lines have been replaced, 28,000 properties restored, and that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has lifted its emergency order earlier this year.

Despite this, many residents say they remain wary of drinking or bathing in unfiltered water.

Melissa Mays, an activist who has spent years fighting for safe water, says she and her family still experience health problems stemming from the contaminated water they consumed in 2014 and 2015. “Flint is not fixed,” Mays said. “And we are not going to shut up and go away.”

The crisis began in 2014 when the city switched its water supply from Detroit’s system to the Flint River to save money. The move led to bacterial contamination and dangerous lead levels. Pediatricians soon reported increased lead exposure in children, and in 2017 a federal settlement mandated the replacement of every lead service line in Flint.

Officials say the work is now complete. “Lifting this emergency order is a cause for great celebration for residents of Flint who worked so hard and sacrificed so much to get to this point,” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in May.

Yet distrust remains high. The Rev. Allen Overton of Christ Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church said members of his congregation continue to struggle with skin rashes, hair loss, and damaged plumbing from the years of contaminated water.

Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley acknowledges these concerns but says the city’s water “tests among the best in the state of Michigan, if not the country.” He has called for faster distribution of the $600 million settlement to residents.

For many, however, the crisis has left permanent scars. “We have people who are just tired of fighting because this is exhausting,” Mays said. “Not a dime has been given out to residents, nobody is in jail, so it’s hard to stay positive.”

Credit: CNN Newsource

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