US EditionFlint's still-unfinished lead pipe replacement serves as cautionary tale to other cities
GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN, JUN 29 – Flint’s lead pipe replacement program faces delays and trust issues, with hundreds of pipes still in the ground years after the 2017 settlement, NRDC reports.
- By July 1, Flint had finished all mandated excavation and lawn restoration related to the replacement of close to eleven thousand lead service lines, concluding a decade-long response to the water crisis.
- The crisis began in 2014 when the city switched its water source to the Flint River without corrosion control, causing lead contamination and health hazards.
- Despite settlement-mandated replacements and testing, management was ineffective, records were poor, nearly 700 homeowners declined replacements, and distrust lingered in the community.
- Flint’s Public Works Director Miller reported new robust data management and prioritized customer outreach, but residents like Aonie Gilcreast said, "We don’t know what to believe."
- The city and state continue replacing lead lines on properties outside the original settlement, indicating ongoing work and lessons for other municipalities under federal mandates.
106 Articles
106 Articles
One-third of NM water systems miss federal lead pipe survey deadline
Inspectors with Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority do a meter inspection. While New Mexico's share of lead pipes in public water systems is estimated to be low, about one-third of water systems failed to turn in surveys of the issue for an October 2024 deadline. (Courtesy of ABCWUA)Just over one-third of water systems failed to submit surveys to the State of New Mexico regarding the status of lead pipes in their water systems,…
Nine years after it started, Flint’s service line excavations, replacements complete
FLINT, MI -- All required service line excavation and lawn restoration work has been completed in Flint, according to a new report filed in federal court by the state of Michigan on Tuesday, July 1.
Blue Island distributes water sampling kits in effort to eliminate lead lines
Blue Island resident Sarah Haskell said she avoids letting her 1-year-old son drink tap water, as she is worried about contamination of lead in water lines. Instead, she keeps a Brita water filter on hand in her refrigerator. When Blue Island expanded its water sampling procedures mid-June, distributing lead and copper test kits to 60 randomly selected households as part of a project aiming to replace all water lead lines, Haskell said she was r…
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