Updated Information on City Leaders’ Plan to Rebuild Flint the Right Way

Flint is rebuilding itself. The people and places of Flint, Michigan were damaged by the water crisis that began in 2014. The City of Flint understands that rebuilding its compromised infrastructure is fundamental to the city’s recovery. Flint’s interconnected and complicated water delivery system must be rebuilt, not by attempting to piece together what was built for the past, but by building a new system for the future. It only makes sense to rebuild proactively, efficiently, and sustainably. This sheet lists funding committed and pending for rebuilding Flint’s infrastructure. Funding listed has been committed to or requested by the City of Flint unless otherwise noted.
Without a doubt, Flint’s large-scale infrastructure needs require vast rebuilding resources. The livelihood of Flint’s residents, its businesses, and its community depends on a complete and timely infrastructure response. We need to REBUILD FLINT THE RIGHT WAY.

What funding has been committed to rebuilding Flint’s infrastructure?

FAST START:
$2 million from the State of Michigan to remove and replace lead and/or galvanized service lines connected to at least 250 houses (money it reimbursed the City of Flint for what it spent to reconnect to the Detroit Water System).

STORMWATER, ASSET MANAGEMENT, AND WASTEWATER:
$2 million from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to improve asset management of the wastewater and storm water collection systems.

HARDEST HIT FUND DEMOLITION:
$13.9 million from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority to Genesee County Land Bank Authority to demolish at least 1,000 vacant, blighted, and publicly owned houses.

DRINKING WATER REVOLVING FUND ROADWAY RECONSTRUCTION – TRANSPORTATION INVESTMENT

GENERATING ECONOMIC RECOVERY:
$20 million from the United States Department of Transportation to rebuild Right of Ways aboveground in coordination with water transmission main line replacement funded by the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.

What funding requests are pending for rebuilding Flint’s infrastructure?

DRINKING WATER STATE REVOLVING FUND:
$146 million from the United States Environmental Protection Agency to upgrade infrastructure at the Flint Water Plant, rebuild water mains, and replace water service lines.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT Request:
$151 million from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to rebuild water and sewer mains, replace water and sewer service lines, replace compromised in-home infrastructure, and rebuild above the ground infrastructure.

FAST START EXPANSION:
$25 million from the State of Michigan to remove and replace water delivery infrastructure including lead-tainted pipes.

HOUSING REHABILITATION:
$1 million from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority to rehabilitate owner-occupied houses. Will be awarded to one or more third parties.

What is REBUILD FLINT THE RIGHT WAY?

REBUILD FLINT THE RIGHT WAY is a guide that presents the City of Flint’s position and vision for rebuilding Flint’s infrastructure in order to restore safe, unfiltered drinking water citywide.

What does REBUILD FLINT THE RIGHT WAY say?

• Rebuild Flint by replacing its entire water delivery system.

• Rebuild Flint by following the community vision, guiding principles, land use plan, and implementation

strategies of the Imagine Flint Master Plan for a Sustainable Flint.

• Rebuild Flint by addressing each and every component that is a part of the city’s complicated and interconnected water delivery system.

• Rebuild Flint by addressing the type and condition of the city’s properties.

• Rebuild Flint by assembling a new water infrastructure system that fits the community’s needs and delivers clean drinking water citywide.

• Rebuild Flint by constructing new multi-modal roads and green Right of Ways that reduce costs and support the city’s ecosystem.

Why does Flint need an entirely new water infrastructure system to restore clean drinking water? I thought the problem came from a few thousand lead pipes?

Flint’s lead contamination extends beyond lead service lines. Corrosive water ran from the Flint Water Treatment Plant to residents’ water faucets. This corrosive water compromised infrastructure and deposited lead all along the way. Lead is being found in houses and neighborhoods that do not have lead service lines. In fact, more that two-thirds of the houses that have detected higher levels of lead (above 14 parts per billion) do not have water service lines known to contain lead and/or galvanized metal.

Why can’t we identify the households that have lead problems and fix infrastructure on a house-by-house basis?

While Flint’s water quality tests can confirm the presence of lead in a household, they cannot rule it out. Since September of 2015, many Flint households have had their water tested multiple times. The results show that lead levels vary drastically within a given house, by hundreds and even thousands of parts per billion, from one test to another. Flint has a water delivery system that is compromised citywide, not household-specific water quality problems.

REBUILD FLINT THE RIGHT WAY outlines upgrading Flint’s aboveground infrastructure with things like LED street lights, bike lanes, and low-maintenance greenbelts. These items cost money and aren’t related to water. Why are they included?

As Flint unearths not only its water lines but also the roads, curbs, sidewalks, and greenways that cover them, it only makes sense to rebuild proactively, efficiently, and sustainably. In many cases, sustainable rebuilding methods present little to no increase in installation costs and offer long-term cost savings.

It is going to cost a lot of money to build a new infrastructure system. Is this realistic?

Clean, unfiltered drinking water must be restored to each and every property in Flint, regardless of cost. It is unacceptable for a city in the United States of American to be without clean, safe drinking water in the 21st Century.

Why don’t Flint’s residents pay for their new water system?

Flint’s residents should not and cannot pay for the city’s new water infrastructure system. Flint’s residents did not make the decisions that led to the city’s water crisis. Flint’s residents still pay some of the highest water rates in the United States for water that they cannot drink from their faucets.

What is the next step to REBUILD FLINT THE RIGHT WAY?

Flint’s next step for restoring clean drinking water is to develop an engineering plan for the new, effective, and sustainable water infrastructure system that REBUILD FLINT THE RIGHT WAY calls for.