FLINT, Mich. (AP) – Flint Mayor Karen Weaver says officials are working on a plan to remove and replace all lead water pipes as the city seeks solutions to its lead-tainted water crisis.
Weaver said at a news conference on Tuesday that the work is expected to cost $55 million. Households where residents are deemed to be high-risk would be given priority for pipe replacement.
State officials disconnected Flint from Detroit’s water supply in 2014 and began using the Flint River to save money. Regulators failed to ensure the new water was treated properly and lead from pipes leached into the water supply, contributing to a spike in child lead exposure.
Weaver said that Flint is “going to restore safe drinking water one house at a time, one child at a time.”