Flint, Michigan continues to pick up pieces after lead water crisis

Global Business

More than 8,000 children, the most at-risk group, were exposed to lead-tainted tap water contamination after Flint, Michigan changed its water source to save money. Lawmakers have joined residents demanding the head of the Environmental Protection Agency and the state governor step down.

CCTV’s America’s Owen Fairclough reports.

Flint, Michigan continues to pick up pieces after lead water crisis

More than 8,000 children, the most at-risk group, were exposed to lead-tainted tap water contamination after Flint, Michigan changed its water source to save money. Lawmakers have joined residents demanding the head of the Environmental Protection Agency and the state governor step down.

Flint switched its water source to the local river in 2014 to save money as it teetered on bankruptcy. The 2008 financial crisis hit the region’s car manufacturing hard.

But the new supply then dissolved lead into the pipes; It’s since been switched back.

The Flint scandal has lifted the lid on a nationwide problem. A study by the newspaper USA Today estimates that six million people across the country have drinking water that contain unsafe levels of lead.

“This was a failure of government at all levels: local, state and federal officials. We all failed the families of Flint. This isn’t about politics nor partisanship. I’m not going to point fingers or shift blame. There’s plenty of that to share and neither will help the people of Flint,” Michigan Governor Rick Snyder said. “Not a day or night goes by that this tragedy doesn’t weigh on my mind.”

The cost of replacing the pipes is astronomical, up to $385 billion, according to ratings agency Fitch.

Another agency, Standard and Poor’s has added more pressure to Michigan, lowering its credit rating partly over the cost of giving Flint’s citizens clean water.


Anders Berntell of Water Resources Group on importance of improved water infrastructure

CCTV America’s Rachelle Akkufo interviewed Anders Berntell, executive director of the 2030 Water Resources Group about the current situation of water infrastructure.
Follow Rachelle Akuffo on Twitter @RachelleAkuffo