Residents In City Neighboring Flint Affected By Tainted Water
BURTON, Mich (WWJ/AP) -- The reach of the Flint water crisis may not be bound by the city's limits. Reports surfacing Friday suggest that up to 250 residents outside Flint have been affected by the lead-contaminated water.
The city of Burton shares a seven-mile border with Flint. The mayor's chief of staff, Rick Hayman, told WWJ Newsradio 950 that about 65 Burton residents use water from Flint.
"We're ensuring that our residents not only have access to bottled water, we're actually delivering bottled water," Hayman said. "They've also received or are eligible to receive filters and water test kits."
Residents in Flint were warned on Friday that the filters provided to clean the tainted water in their homes might not be proficient enough. It was found that the levels of lead in some areas are so high that filters can't separate it out.
"We're doing our best to ensure that folks know that the number of Burton residents who are on Flint water is quite small," Hayman said.
Friday, Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law $28 million in emergency funding to address the contamination crisis.
The funds also will help the city with unpaid water bills and cover testing, monitoring and other costs.
"In other words, they are covering the waterfront with this money to try to address that problem in Flint," WWJ Lansing Bureau Chief Tim Skubick said.
There is also funding to hire outside experts to assess whether Flint's water system infrastructure must be replaced or repaired.
The city's water is currently undrinkable after it became contaminated when Flint switched from the Detroit water system to the Flint River as a cost-cutting move. The corrosive water lacked adequate treatment and caused lead to leach from old pipes — and there has since been much discussion about who should be held accountable.
Flint has since reconnected to Detroit water.
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