The mayor of water-weary Flint, Michigan, on Tuesday pressed for the rapid removal of lead pipes blamed for first corroding the drinking water in 2014 — saying the city must start with homes where pregnant women and young children reside. NBC News reported.
"These lead pipes have got to go," Mayor Karen Weaver said during a news conference, adding that she is "morally obligated" to act.
But Weaver couldn't say where all the money to replace the aging pipelines in Flint, home to nearly 100,000 people, would come from.
Weaver said she is looking at what was done in the state capital of Lansing as a model for replacing infrastructure: Lead was stripped from 13,500 pipes in the city over the past decade, costing about $42 million, officials said.
Improperly treated water leached lead from pipes into Flint's drinking water after the financially-strapped city switched from Detroit's water system to the Flint River two years ago to save money. Testing has since showed high lead levels in some children.
