Flint mayor: Cost of lead fix could hit $1.5 billion
LANSING — Flint Mayor Karen Weaver said Thursday it could cost as much as $1.5 billion to fix the city's damaged water distribution system, as state officials warned Flint residents not to drink their tap water without using a filter to strain out lead.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder met with Weaver in Lansing for more than 30 minutes and apologized a second time for the state's role in the catastrophe.
"This is a situation that no one wanted would have ever happened, but it has happened," Snyder told reporters as he stood beside Weaver near his offices in the Romney Building, across from the state Capitol.
"We're taking this extremely seriously."
Also Thursday, Michigan's chief medical executive, Dr. Eden Wells, said Flint residents should either use a lead filter on their drinking water taps, or drink bottled water, until further notice. The Flint water is safe to drink if a properly installed and a properly maintained lead filter is used, Wells said.
Wells also said all Flint children under the age of 6 should be blood-tested for lead as soon as possible. They can be taken to their primary care physician or the local health department, she said. Anyone in Flint who needs information about how to get their child tested should call 211, Wells said.
The meeting between Snyder and Weaver followed this week's declaration by Snyder of a state of emergency in Flint and Genesee County, which makes more state resources available and is a required step before the state can request federal aid.
Flint's drinking water became contaminated with lead in 2014 after its supply source was switched from Lake Huron water provided by what was then the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to the more polluted and corrosive Flint River, while the city was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager.
The cost-cutting move resulted in a spike in lead levels in children, which causes permanent brain damage. A recent preliminary report from a task force appointed by Snyder placed most of the blame on the state Department of Environmental Quality and prompted the Dec. 29 resignation of DEQ Director Dan Wyant.
Although the state assisted the city in moving its source of drinking water back to Lake Huron water supplied by Detroit in October, concerns about contamination remain because the more corrosive Flint River water damaged pipes and other infrastructure.
Snyder didn't give a direct answer Thursday when asked when he first learned about potential safety problems with Flint's drinking water. He said he is waiting for the final report of the Flint Water Advisory Task Force he appointed Oct. 21.
The governor said an inter-agency task force will be set up to work on issues such as providing filters, testing the blood of children and developing estimates of how much money is needed.
Weaver said she's heard estimates for the cost of repairing Flint water infrastructure damaged by the corrosive Flint River Water that range from a few million dollars to $1.5 billion.
"We are working together," Weaver said of the meeting with Snyder, which she described as "very productive."
"This is a partnership looking at how we move Flint forward."
Keith Creagh, interim director of the DEQ, said it's premature to estimate what the infrastructure price tag might be.
Flint has about 500 miles of iron pipe that are about 75 years old, but that part of the problem is not unique to Flint, said Creagh, who said the department is also examining whether other Michigan cities have water supplies endangered by lead contamination.
Harvey Hollins, Snyder's director of urban affairs and the governor's point person on the Flint water crisis, said between 15,000 and 20,000 water filters have been distributed to the city's roughly 33,000 households, but those filters will eventually need to be replaced. Hollins said any Flint resident who wants their water tested can make the request and get results within a week.
Hollins said the administration will be making a request to the Legislature for additional funds to address the Flint crisis, but he was not prepared to say how much money will be requested.
A class-action lawsuit has been filed in federal court and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit has confirmed it is investigating the contamination of Flint's drinking water in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Spokeswoman Gina Balaya would not say whether the investigation is a civil or criminal matter.
Apology, resignations over Flint are good first steps
Wells, speaking at the Michigan State Police Emergency Operations Center in Lansing, conceded there were "missed opportunities that we regret" for the state Department of Health and Human Services to act more quickly on the Flint drinking water contamination.
"Were they intentional? Absolutely not," Wells said.
Between Oct. 1 and Dec. 18, some 2,182 Flint residents were blood-tested for lead, Wells said. Of those, 23 children younger than age 6; seven children between the ages of 6 and 17, and 13 adults tested above the lead action level of five micrograms per deciliter, she said.
Wells said if a child shows a lower reading, that doesn't necessarily mean the child has not been exposed to unsafe levels of lead, since lead in the blood can either be excreted from the body or absorbed into bones and organs. While there is no screening test other than the blood test, pediatricians can detect other signs of lead poisoning in children with blood-lead readings below the action level, she said.
Healthy diets rich in iron and calcium can help minimize the ill effects of excess lead exposure, Wells said.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.