Flint’s seemingly never ending lead pipe inspection project has come to an end.
The project began during the height of the city’s lead tainted drinking water crisis a decade ago.
Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley announced Monday that on Friday, city crews had inspected the last service line connecting a home or business to city water mains to determine if it contained lead or galvanized steel.
Neeley calls it the “completion of a very, very long journey.”
“We want to make sure to let people know this is the first time in generations that there are no active lead service lines in the city of Flint,” Neeley told reporters.
Service lines, the pipes that connect to city water mains, were a primary source of lead leaching into Flint’s drinking water back in 2014 and 2015.
After the state takeover of Flint, emergency financial managers appointed by the state decided to switch the city’s drinking water source to save money. But the ill-fated decision to use the Flint River as the city’s tap water source proved disastrous. Improperly treated river water damaged aging pipes, releasing lead and other contaminants into Flint’s drinking water.
Flint was switched back to the Detroit water system after 18 months, but by then the damage was done.
Mayor Neeley estimated that more than $1 billion has been spent inspecting and replacing service lines and making other improvements to Flint’s aging drinking water system.
That work has ground on for years, through different city hall administrations and litigation.
A federal court eventually ended up directing the city to complete the work.
Meanwhile, the task of inspections, replacements, and property restoration has dragged on.
“I had a lot of sleepless nights. Moments where we wondered if we could reach the finish line,” said Entrice “Jiggy” Mitchell, the city of Flint sewer systems supervisor, “But today I can proudly say we did.”
City workers inspected the last water service line last Friday.
According to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, approximately 31,930 addresses were excavated, including:
- 11,600 lead lines replaced
- 1,380 lead lines cut and capped
- 18,950 copper to copper lines
Also Friday, crews disconnected water service to the last property where the owner refused to allow pipes to be inspected.
Property owners unwilling to have their service lines inspected or simply unable to be contacted, or people living in homes unwilling to allow the inspections, have slowed the inspection work over the years.
It’s unclear how many properties the city ended up cutting off water service to because the service lines could not be inspected.
Going forward, if someone wishes to have water service restored, Flint officials said, the cost of having the service line inspected and/or replaced will be paid by the property owner.
