In wake of the Flint water crisis, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder admitted he had no immediate plans to replace the corroded lead pipes responsible for transporting polluted water to community residents.

Instead, he said he was focused on a "short-term" fix to address the problem, which involved using phosphates to coat the corroded pipes and prevent lead from leaching into the water.

On Wednesday, the Republican governor spoke at a news conference to give the state an update about the man-made water fiasco, which has exposed Flint's nearly 100,000 residents to lead-contaminated tap water.

Although experts said the only permanent solution to the problem was to completely remove the lead pipes, Snyder said at the conference that he was only considering replacing the pipes as part of his long-term plan.

In turn, NBC News reporter Stephanie Gosk pressed the embattled governor on how his decision to continue using the pipes that poisoned the water supply would affect his relationship with Flint's residents, who do not trust him.

"If you don't replace those pipes, a lot of people tell us they're simply not going to drink the water no matter how many assurance they're getting. How do you address that right now?" Gosk asked.

In response, Snyder admitted that there was a trust issue between the state government and citizens. He also said replacing the toxic pipes responsible for the city's lead-poisoned tap water was not on his "short-term" agenda.

"It's a lot of work to take out pipes, to redo all of the infrastructure, that's a whole planning process," Snyder said.

"A lot of work is being done to even understand where the lead services lines fully are," Snyder said, according to Fox News. "The short-term issue is about recoating the pipes (with chemicals) and that will be based on third-party experts saying the water is safe."

The water crisis began in April 2014 when a state appointed emergency manager decided to switch Flint's water supply source to the Flint River to save money. As a result, toxic water from the Flint River corroded the pipes, causing lead to leech into the tap water.

After an independent study found an elevated level of lead in the blood of children in the area, Snyder decided to switch the water source back to Lake Huron in October 2015. However, there are still up to 25,000 service lines containing lead that run between water mains and homes in Flint. According to Snyder's administration, it could cost up to $55 million to repair the roughly 15,000 pipes.

Earlier on Wednesday, environmental and civil rights groups filed a lawsuit demanding the prompt replacement of all lead pipes at no cost to the Flint community.

Related