Flint completes lead water pipe replacement throughout city, according to multiple sources

According to the Natural Resources Defence Council and multiple other agencies, The State of Michigan  submitted a progress report on Tuesday, July 1. The agencies state that report indicates the City of Flint has completed the replacement of lead water pipes throughout the city. This has happened eight years after a court ordered Flint to  replace all its pipes.

According to ACLU Michigan,  a decade after lead contaminated water was found in Flint, Michigan’s water system, the legal battle to replace lead water pipes is finished and a landmark milestone for a city defined by its dangerous water. The organization’s website points out that: “On July 1,  the State of Michigan submitted a progress report to a federal court confirming that, more than eight years after a court-ordered settlement required Flint officials to replace pipes and restore property damaged in the process, nearly 11,000 lead pipes were replaced and more than 28,000 properties were restored. There is no safe level of lead exposure.”

According to background on the ACLU website, since 2017, plaintiffs Melissa Mays, Flint-based Concerned Pastors for Social Action, ACLU of Michigan and the NRDC have remained vigilant to hold the city to account for its slow progress in replacing lead pipes and restoring damage done to lawns, sidewalks, and driveways in the process. The group returned to court six times in six years to ensure the city properly managed its lead pipe replacement program and that every eligible resident received the benefits guaranteed to them by the court-ordered settlement in the Safe Drinking Water Act lawsuit.

Pastor Allen C. Overton of the Concerned Pastors for Social Action is quoted on the website as stating: “Thanks to the persistence of the people of Flint and our partners, we are finally at the end of the lead pipe replacement project. While this milestone is not all the justice our community deserves, it is a huge achievement. We would not have reached this day without the work of so many Flint residents who worked to hold our leaders accountable. I have never been prouder to be a member of the Flint community.”