PVC Maker Offers Free Replacement of Flint Water Pipes

FLINT, MI – The world’s largest plastic pipe supplier says it will replace all the lead pipes that contributed to the public health catastrophe in Flint.

Los Angeles-based JM Eagle CEO Walter Wang made his magnanimous offer to the Flint City Council Monday. The city can keep its money, he said, and his company will replace all of the lead lines supplying water to Flint houses free of charge.

The offer, which hasn’t been formalized, comes with a 50-year guarantee on the pipe, designed to last a century.

“I’ve been reading about this water crisis, this contamination issue, which is hurting human beings,” Wang told the television station. “It’s hurting children and making them sick. There’s a lot of articles written but I don’t see anybody offering a long-term sustainable solution.”

JM Eagle has been tweeting on its Twitter account that “Flint is only the beginning” and that “high levels of lead (are) found all over the U.S.” In others, the company said “America is Flint” and “everyone has a right to clean water.”

The total cost to replace pipes that are leaching lead has been estimated at between $50 million and $60 million, according to The Flint Journal.

The plastic maker could use some good press.

The industry publication Plastic News reported JM Eagle is embroiled in a 10-year-old whistleblower lawsuit questioning the durability of PVC pipe produced from 1996-2006. The lawsuit was filed by a former employee and more than 40 government entities that used the pipe.

» Photo by JudeanPeoplesFront via Flickr