Flint, Michigan has been the center of attention for its water crisis, and President Barack Obama has announced plans to visit.
According to an MLive report, a White House official has confirmed that Obama will come to the city on Wednesday, May 4 to hear from residents and get an in-person briefing on federal relief efforts.
Obama responded to a letter from an 8-year-old girl, Mari Copeny, that was asking him to visit.
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“My mom said chances are you will be to (sic) busy with more important things but there is a lot of people coming on these buses and even just a meeting from you or your wife would really lift peoples spirits,” Mari wrote.
Obama wrote a letter back on April 25 that said he would visit.
A state-appointed emergency manager’s 2014 decision to switch Flint’s water source from Lake Huron to the local river has caused residents’ water to leach lead from household pipes. Residents have protested since 2014, reporting odd color, taste and smell in their water, but state officials insisted that the quality was fine until last fall, when independent tests found elevated levels of lead.
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Flint residents have reported hair loss, rashes and misbehavior from their children as a result of the lead poisoning, and an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease that some link to lead has killed ten people in the county. The crisis has been cited as an example of environmental racism, considering the disproportionate amount of poor people of color living in Flint.
While the water source has been switched back to Lake Huron, the water still isn’t safe because of the damage done to the pipes. Months ago, Obama ordered federal help in the form of bottled water for residents to drink, cook and bathe with, and lead filters for their homes.
Hip-hop has been outspoken in its support of Flint during the crisis. The Game, Russell Simmons, Snoop Dogg, Diddy, Pusha T and others have visited and/or donated bottles of water to residents.
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Conspiracy theories have also begun to circulate after the recent deaths of a Flint water plant worker and a woman involved in a Flint water lawsuit. Police say connections between the deaths and the water crisis are unfounded.
