Billionaire Elon Musk said late Wednesday that he would fund “fixing the water in any house” in Flint, Mich., that remains contaminated above acceptable federal levels.
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.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 11, 2018Musk said that anyone in Flint should reply to his tweet with test results and he will “send someone to install a water filter.” The Tesla Inc. TSLA, -1.09% chief executive also said he would set up an email address Thursday to accept submissions.
For now, reply to my tweet with ppm & ppb test results & will send someone to install a water filter. Creating email flint@x.com, but I’m in China so that won’t be working until tomorrow.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 11, 2018In a subsequent tweet, Musk acknowledged that many of the homes in Flint have safe water, with lead levels below Food and Drug Administration standards, but said people have lost faith in the government’s test results, while some houses remain “outliers.” He said he plans to organize a weekend in the city to add filters to homes with issues and “hopefully fix perception of those that are actually good.”
You’re right on both counts. Most houses in Flint have safe water, but they’ve lost faith in govt test results. Some houses are still outliers. Will organize a weekend in Flint to add filters to those houses with issues & hopefully fix perception of those that are actually good.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 11, 2018In April, Michigan stopped providing free bottled water to Flint residents, a decision which local officials criticized because the city is still recovering from a crisis that led to dangerous levels of lead in tap water beginning in 2014.
State officials said lead levels in the water have not exceeded federal limits for roughly two years and Flint residents could, as of April, obtain free water filters. According to the Michigan government website, there are 10 locations where residents can receive free filters, replacement cartridges and home water-testing kits.
