Flint, Unleaded

By Willy Blackmore Originally appeared in Word in Black This story is part of “Flint’s Still Fighting,” Word In Black’s series about the decade-long water crisis, and the struggles and triumphs still transforming the majority-Black city. Sometime soon, maybe even within the next few months, a trench will be dug across a lawn somewhere in Flint, Michigan, and a crew of city workers will haul a pipe up out of the ground. It’ll be made either of stainless steel or lead, just like the some& 29,500 water service lines& that the city has replaced over the last seven years. It’ll not only be the last lead pipe on the block, but in the city too — the culmination of a $100 million project that began in 2017 when Flint reached a settlement with a group of plaintiffs who sued the city (and state officials) in the wake of the water crisis.  They’re going to try to say that it’s finished but it’s not — it’s not complete.ARTHUR WOODSON, FLINT ACTIVIST While there is still other work the city is legally required to complete under the terms of the settlement, including cleaning up lawns and repairing sidewalks and curbs at thousands...