The Latest: Next phase starts for Flint pipe replacement

FLINT, Mich. – The Latest on Flint’s crisis with lead-tainted water (all times local):

11:55 a.m.

Contractors will be out in Flint neighbourhoods as part of the latest effort to replace old lead and galvanized steel water lines amid the city’s crisis with lead-tainted water.

A kickoff for the latest phase of the Fast Start program was Friday. Mayor Karen Weaver says it’ll result in the replacement of service lines at 200-250 homes. She says contractors will be out in neighbourhoods to seek permission from residents.

This fall, her office says the next phase of the replacement program that started in March will cover 5,000 additional homes.

The project has replaced lines at 33 homes during the first phase.

Over 18 months, lead leached from old pipes into Flint’s water supply when the city used water from the Flint River. The water wasn’t treated for corrosiveness.

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6:40 a.m.

The state of Michigan has restored the pay of six suspended employees who face criminal charges amid Flint’s crisis with lead-tainted water.

The Flint Journal, citing information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, says the pay of those workers totals about $500,000 a year. The newspaper and The Detroit News reported the update on the suspended employees, who also will get help from the state in defending themselves.

Michigan Department of Environmental Quality employees Stephen Busch, Michael Prysby, Adam Rosenthal and Patrick Cook as well as Department of Health and Human Services employees Nancy Peeler and Robert Scott initially were suspended without pay amid the criminal case.

As the criminal investigation continues, Flint is moving forward Friday on an effort to replace old lead and galvanized steel water lines.