KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — A member of the Virginia Tech study group that discovered the problem with lead in Flint’s water supply was in Kalamazoo last night to talk about the issue.
Sidhartha Roy, a graduate student at the school, said the larger issue is that Flint is not alone in having lead in its system.
“As long as you have lead pipes in the system across the country, there’s always a minor risk that lead could be leaching from these pipes,” Roy said. “That’s a big issue that we need to be cognizant of.”
He said Flint has more than the usual number of lead pipes because they haven’t seen any new construction since 1980, when General Motors left town and the population fell by half.
All it took was a little human failure to create a disaster.
“Local, state and federal governments failed the very people they’re paid to protect,” Roy said.
He says corrosion controls are part of a short-term answer, but he said removing the pipes must remain a long-term goal.
– John McNeill
