FLINT, Mich. (WJRT) (4/25/2021)--Seven years ago tonight marks the beginning of the Flint Water Crisis that shocked the world and left its namesake community reeling.
A crisis which, for those who call Flint home, is still far from over. Most still don’t trust the water and believe more should be done to help those impacted. The city announced it was again getting the ball rolling Friday, nearing completion on a series of major infrastructure projects that will ultimately leave it better prepared. As for the public’s trust, however, that may prove another battle.
“Everybody knew.”
Keri Webber’s whole life changed with the flip of a switch seven years earlier.
“We were tested repetitively,” she related during a Sunday phone conversation. “My house was still running at 100 parts per billion daily.”
When the city began to replace its damaged lead service lines, Keri told ABC12 her family was placed in group three and was told their day would come well over a year later. Another year with taps still riddled with poison.
“We weren’t using it. The point is, especially psychologically on everyone here, knowing the tap is just pure poison,” she explained.
“It’s been a crisis of confidence and we don’t expect trust restored,” Mayor Sheldon Neeley related. “There’s still work to be done. We’re moving to get that work done.”
Mayor Neeley inherited the challenges that would come with the city’s water crisis when he took office in 2019. Neeley announced Friday the city would soon fulfill its promise of upgrading Flint’s aging water infrastructure by the end of the year, excavating nearly 27-thousand Flint homes since work got underway. 500 properties still remain.
“Right now, the program is back on track. It was delayed a bit,” Neeley said.
Construction of the Chemical Feed Building at the Flint Water Treatment Plant on Dort Highway, in addition to the city’s long-awaited secondary water source, should also soon reach completion. The Mayor’s office said the 6-million-dollar project would ensure water is treated safely and effectively.
“What defines us is how we rise,” Neeley explained. “We’re a strong, united community around the effort of making sure our children and our families are going to be coming through this in a better condition than they have been in the last seven years.”
“Our house was like the equivalent of toxic waste.”
Keri’s peace of mind, however, will prove harder to come by. The Flint wife and mother said she was haunted by the poison she said she unknowingly gave her family and the after effects that continue to stalk them even now. Rather than waiting for the city to take action, several years ago, Keri took it upon herself.
“Friends of mine raised the money and paid a contractor to come out… paid out of pocket to remove our lead service line,” she said. “That’s how ours got fixed.”
Copyright 2021 WJRT. All rights reserved.
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“Pure poison:” victim reflects on seven years of Flint water crisis as city infrastructure projects near completion - ABC 12 News
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