Lead levels fall below federal limits in Flint, Michigan: state

(Reuters) – Lead levels in Flint, Michigan’s drinking water, the focus of a public health crisis, have fallen below federal limits, state officials said on Tuesday, although they cautioned residents to keep using filtered water as work proceeds to replace the city’s old lead pipes.

Tests showed lead levels in the city’s drinking water were 12 parts per billion between July and December, below the federal limit of 15 PPB, Michigan officials said in a statement.

The water crisis erupted when tests in 2015 found high amounts of lead in blood samples taken from children in Flint, a predominantly black city of about 100,000.

Flint was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager when it switched its water source to the Flint River from Lake Huron in April 2014. The more corrosive river water caused lead to leach from city pipes and go into the drinking water.

Lead poisoning stunts children’s cognitive development and no level of exposure is considered safe. Flint’s contaminated water prompted dozens of lawsuits and criminal charges against several former government officials.

The city switched back to the previous water system in October 2015.

Flint’s lead levels are now comparable to levels in cities of similar size and with infrastructure of similar age, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder said in a statement.

Even with the test results, programs that provide water filters and related services will continue, he said.

“This is not the end of our work in Flint, but it is one more step along the path toward Flint’s future,” said Snyder, a Republican who has been sharply criticized by Flint residents for his handling of the crisis.

In December, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette charged four former government officials with conspiring to violate safety rules, bring to 13 the number of current and former officials charged in connection with the water crisis.

A Reuters investigation last year found that Flint’s lead poisoning was no aberration, but one example of a preventable health crisis that continues in hazardous spots in much of the United States. The investigation identified nearly 3,000 communities with recently recorded lead poisoning rates at least double those in Flint.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington and David Ingram in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Peter Cooney)