Obama To Visit Troubled Flint, Michigan Amid Tainted Water Crisis
WASHINGTON (CBSNewYork/AP) — President Barack Obama is set to meet with residents of Flint, Michigan, to hear how they're managing after lead from old pipes tainted their drinking water.
And Obama is bringing a message to Flint on Wednesday: a promise for change.
The White House says Obama wants to use the trip to assure residents that federal help will continue even after the media glare subsides.
Obama declared a state of emergency in mid-January and ordered federal aid to supplement the state and local response. At that point, the crisis was in full bloom.
It took several months for the nation to focus its attention on the beaten-down city's plight, raising questions about how race and poverty influenced decisions that led to the tainted water and the beleaguered response once problems surfaced.
For 18 months, the corrosive water from the Flint River seeped lead into the drinking water supply, and it is now blamed for elevated lead levels in some children's bloodstreams. Investigators revealed state officials knew about the problem and failed to do anything about, CBS News reported earlier.
Issues in Flint sparked local concerns over the quality of water in New Jersey. Earlier this year, Newark schools shut off sinks and fountains at 30 facilities because of high lead counts in their water systems. Blood tests were also offered to 17,000 students at those schools for lead.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental protection is now working to make changes to the way the state and its water utilities respond to the threat of lead in drinking water.
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