Obama will head to Flint, Michigan to address water crisis
President Barack Obama will travel to Flint, Michigan, on May 4 to address residents in the city as they continue to struggle with toxic levels of lead in their water supply.
Obama had previously addressed the crisis in January, when he visited Detroit, but did not stop in Flint despite declaring a state of emergency in the city.
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Obama is expected to be briefed on the federal efforts to alleviate the crisis. He will also listen to residents before delivering a speech.
Flint's water problems started in April 2014, as the city transferred its water supply to the Flint River.
The Flint River's water was more corrosive than the previous supply, and it ate into the lead pipes that carried water to many of Flint's nearly 100,000 residents. That lead wound up in the water, causing some residents to develop toxic levels of lead in their bloodstream.
Three Flint and Michigan officials have been charged with misconduct related to hiding and/or tampering with evidence of high lead levels in the city's water supply following the switch, and more charges may follow.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has come under fire for not trying to alleviate the crisis much sooner, and Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have called for his resignation.
Snyder has said he will not be in Flint while Obama is in town.
Obama, who has previously said he would be "beside myself" if he were a parent in Flint, planned the trip after an 8-year-old resident of the city sent him an email, according to The Detroit News.
In that email, Amariyanna Copeny wrote that "even just a meeting from you or your wife would really lift peoples spirits.”
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Colin is Mashable's US & World Reporter. He previously interned at Foreign Policy magazine and The American Prospect. Colin is a graduate from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. When he's not at Mashable, you can most likely find him eating or playing some kind of sport.
