Carlos Osorio/AP
Obama to Visit Flint Wednesday
The president will visit the Michigan city affected by high levels of lead in drinking water.
President Obama will travel Wednesday to Flint, Michigan, a city whose lead-tainted drinking water has made it a symbol of crumbling infrastructure.
It'll be Pres Obama's 18th visit to Michigan today but first to Flint, fo hear about the response to & impact of the lead-tainted water.
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) May 4, 2016
Obama will be briefed in Flint on the crisis by federal officials and members of the Unified Command Group. The president announced his trip to the city after an 8-year-old resident named Amariyanna Copeny wrote the White House. Copeny, who is known locally as Miss Flint, said a visit from Obama or Michelle Obama, the first lady, would “lift people’s spirit.” Still, for some Flint residents, the president’s visit is overdue.
The city is under a state of emergency after elevated levels of lead were discovered in its water supply after the source of the city’s drinking water was switched in 2014 from Lake Huron to the Flint River. In the meantime, the city’s residents are using filters and bottled water. Governor Rick Snyder is trying to assuage concerns over the quality of Flint’s water, saying last month that he’d drink filtered water from the city for a month.