Elon Musk Promises to Fix Flint Water Contamination

He says anybody who needs a filter will get one
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 12, 2018 2:04 AM CDT
Elon Musk Promises to Fix Flint Water Contamination
The Flint Water Plant water tower is seen in Flint, Mich.   (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

He sent a sports car to space, but can he fix Flint's water crisis? Elon Musk says the answer is yes. In response to a request Wednesday on Twitter, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO promised that he would deal with the scandal in the Michigan city, where the water supply has been contaminated with lead for years, the Detroit News reports. "Please consider this a commitment that I will fund fixing the water in any house in Flint that has water contamination above FDA levels. No kidding," Musk tweeted in response to DylanSheaMusic, who had told him: "I heard a bunch of people saying there's NO WAY you could help get clean water to Flint, Michigan." Musk told Flint residents he would arrange having water filters fitted if they replied to his tweet with test results showing contamination.

"Creating email flint@x.com, but I'm in China so that won't be working until tomorrow," he added. Musk also proposed having a "barnstorming weekend" in which much of the work could be done. "Most houses in Flint have safe water, but they've lost faith in government test results," he said. "Some houses are still outliers." Ars Technica notes that this isn't the first time Musk has addressed the Flint crisis: Last month, when 10-year-old activist Little Miss Flint told him on Twitter that what she'd really like to see in a Tesla pickup was water for Flint and bikes for Flint kids, he said, "OK, will look into it"—and later donated 500 bikes to city children. (Musk recently offered a mini-sub to help the Thai boys stranded in a cave.)

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