FLINT (WJRT) (4/4/2018) – Flint Mayor Karen Weaver is calling on Gov.
Rick Snyder’s administration to continue providing bottle water until every lead or galvanized water pipe in the city has been replaced.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has released several rounds of water testing results this year — including samples taken at Flint Community Schools buildings — each showing an overwhelming majority of samples with lead levels far below federal guidelines.
That has led a number of residents to question the state’s willingness to continue providing free bottled water while a three-year project to replace all lead and galvanized water service lines continues.
Weaver is calling on Snyder to continue providing free bottled water to residents and make clear the state’s commitment.
She does not want the bottled water supply to run dry until all lead and galvanized pipes are gone.
"As I have stated before and will continue to say, this is not what I want for our city and I stand by my position that free bottled water should be provided to the people of Flint until the last known lead-tainted pipe has been replaced," Weaver wrote in a letter to Snyder released to the public on Thursday.
"We know that the water in Flint is much better than when I made the Emergency Declaration in December 2015, and that is a good thing," Weaver wrote.
"However, we also know that trust has to be restored before residents are ready to rely only on filtered water."
She also requested the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality better explain their methodology behind the water testing to show how they arrived at the conclusion that most of Flint’s water is safe to drink.