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Flint
finishes
lead
line
replacement,
marks
decade
of safe
water
tests
Wendell
Bryant -
Local/State
Tell Us
Detroit
News
Bureau
LANSING,
- Flint
has
completed
replacement
of all
known
lead
service
lines
and
reached
10 years
of
compliance
with
state
and
federal
standards
for lead
in
drinking
water,
state
officials
announced
Thursday.
Gov.
Gretchen
Whitmer
joined
Flint
Mayor
Sheldon
Neeley
and
Michigan
Department
of
Environment,
Great
Lakes,
and
Energy
Director
Phil
Roos to
mark the
end of a
multi-year
project
that
became a
symbol
of the
city’s
recovery
from the
water
crisis
that
drew
national
attention.
State
officials
said
crews
removed
the last
known
active
lead
service
line on
July 31,
2026. In
total,
roughly
11,600
lines
were
replaced
after
contractors
excavated
and
inspected
nearly
32,000
properties
as part
of a
roughly
$140
million
effort.
“Since
my first
day in
office,
making
sure the
people
of Flint
have
safe,
reliable
drinking
water
has been
a
priority,”
Whitmer
said in
a
prepared
statement.
“Through
strong
partnership
with the
city,
the
state,
and the
many
teams on
the
ground,
we were
able to
complete
the
replacement
of all
known
lead
service
lines.”
Neeley
said the
work
represents
years of
steady
effort
by
residents,
city
staff
and
state
partners.
“Completing
this
work
took
years of
steady
effort,
collaboration,
and
commitment
across
our
community,”
Neeley
said.
“This
has been
a
difficult
chapter,
but by
working
together
with
optimism
and a
clear
vision,
we have
finished
a major
task and
continued
moving
Flint
forward.”
The city
previously
removed
and
replaced
more
than
11,000
lead
lines
under
the
NRDC/Concerned
Pastors
settlement
agreement.
Officials
said
crews
have now
finished
work on
roughly
500
additional
lead
service
lines
identified
as that
court-ordered
project
wrapped
up in
July
2025.
Roos
said the
completion
of the
replacements
caps
years of
coordinated
work
between
Flint
and the
state
environmental
agency.
“This
milestone
represents
years of
coordinated
work,
and EGLE
is proud
to have
helped
the City
of Flint
reach
the
completion
of all
known
lead
service
line
replacements,”
Roos
said.
“Ensuring
safe,
reliable
drinking
water
for
residents
has been
central
to this
effort.”
Alongside
the
infrastructure
work,
Flint
has
posted a
decade
of
testing
results
below
state
and
federal
action
levels
for lead
in
drinking
water
under
Michigan’s
strict
Lead and
Copper
Rule.
For the
latest
six-month
monitoring
period,
from
Jan. 1
through
June 30,
2026,
Flint
recorded
a 90th
percentile
lead
level of
3 parts
per
billion,
meaning
90
percent
of
samples
were at
or below
that
amount.
The
federal
action
level
remains
15 parts
per
billion,
while
Michigan
adopted
a
tighter
12 parts
per
billion
standard
that
took
effect
in 2025.
Since
July
2016,
the
city’s
water
system
has
consistently
tested
below
both the
federal
Lead and
Copper
Rule
action
level
and
Michigan’s
more
stringent
limit,
according
to the
state.
The most
recent
monitoring
used the
highest
value
from
either
the
first or
fifth
liter
sample
at each
site.
Flint
collected
samples
from 61
validated
locations,
including
29 Tier
1 sites
—
single-family
homes
served
by a
lead
service
line —
19 Tier
2 sites,
which
are
businesses
with
lead
service
lines,
and 13
Tier 3
sites,
or
single-family
homes
with
interior
copper
plumbing
and lead
solder
installed
before
1988.
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