Around 300 union plumbers in Flint, Michigan, spent part of the weekend installing new faucets and water filters for residents of the city whose water supply is poisoned by toxic levels of lead.
Lead has filled the water supply since 2014, when the city began to get its water from the Flint River. Children have since developed high levels of lead in their blood, and Flint residents have been unable to access clean water.
That's where the plumbers came in. Some Flint residents couldn't use filters provided by the state government because their faucets were too old to be compatible with them. The Plumbing Manufacturers International union members bypassed the problem with free installations of both.
The filters won't be enough for every home, as the lead flowing through the pipes in some homes is too much for them to handle. But for many, the filters should provide drinkable water.
The MI Building & Construction Trades Council
400 union plumbers & pipe fitters stepping up to help Flint. Local 370 pic.twitter.com/ADl0MQuBHX— Susan Maylone (@SusanMaylone) January 31, 2016
And while Flint residents are focused on access to clean water, a new lawsuit is taking aim at the cost of poisonous water those residents have already paid for.
Flint water comes in three flavors. Corrosive brown, lead white, iron rust red. #FlintWaterCrisis (actual pipes) pic.twitter.com/4T1dRfAKTN— Viva la causa! (@70torinoman) January 24, 2016
Filed in federal court by a Baltimore law firm, the lawsuit is after $150 million in refunds for the water bills residents and business have paid since the city's water supply was switched to the Flint River.
The firm filed the suit on behalf of a Flint mother, a pastor and his wife, and a company called Epco Sales. The defendants include Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Dayne Walling, who was mayor of Flint from 2009-2015.
The lawsuit accuses the defendants of "gross negligence," and says they ignored resident concerns about the water supply.