Obama drinks in support of Flint

By MiNDFOOD

U.S. President Barack Obama drinks a glass of filtered water from Flint, a city struggling with the effects of lead-poisoned drinking water. REUTERS/Carlos Barria.
U.S. President Barack Obama drinks a glass of filtered water from Flint, a city struggling with the effects of lead-poisoned drinking water. REUTERS/Carlos Barria.

US President Barack Obama has put his own health on the line to prove that the water in Flint, Michigan is drinkable.

Obama travelled to Flint to show the federal government’s continued commitment to a city which has been under a state of emergency since January following revelations of lead contamination in the water.

“If you’re using a filter, if you’re installing it, then Flint water at this point is drinkable,” Obama said.

“This used a filter,” Obama said. “The water around this table was Flint water and it just confirms what we know scientifically, which is, if you’re using a filter, if you’re installing it, then Flint water at this point is drinkable.”

The crisis began in April 2014 after Flint changed its water source from to the Flint River which lead to lead contamination from corroding aged pipes.

Obama came to visit the city after eight-year-old girl Amariyanna Copeny wrote him a letter asking Obama to speak to residents in person.

“A meeting from you or your wife would really lift people’s spirits,” Copeny wrote.

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