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Obama to visit Flint to discuss water crisis, responds to "Little Miss Flint"

President Obama in the Oval Office in April 2016.
Pete Souza
/
White House
President Obama in the Oval Office in April 2016.

President Barack Obama plans to make his first trip to Flint, Michigan, since the city's drinking water was found to be tainted with lead.

The White House announced Mr. Obama will visit the city on May 4. He's slated to receive a briefing on the federal effort to assist in the cleanup and to hear from Flint residents.

Obama first notified eight-year-old Amariyanna Copeny about his plans to visit her city. Copeny -- aka "Little Miss Flint" -- wrote the President prior to her visit to Washington D.C. asking if she could meet him. 

Read about the exchange on the White House Medium site here.

Here's "Little Miss Flint" reading her letter to the President (video below):

And you can read Obama's response in the letter below:

Letter from President Obama to Flint's Mari Copeny.
Credit White House

Flint's water supply became tainted in 2014 when the city began drawing water from the Flint River to save money. Regulators failed to ensure the water was properly treated and lead from old pipes leached into the water supply.

Two state officials and a local official have been charged with evidence tampering and other crimes in a Michigan attorney general's investigation.

Mark Brush was the station's Digital Media Director. He succumbed to a year-long battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, in March 2018. He was 49 years old.
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