Latest Water expert says high Flint readings no surprise

Environmental activist Erin Brockovich appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to talk about the Flint water crisis.

Officials stressed that pregnant women and children under 6 should only drink and prepare food with bottled water.

The Grand Rapids Water System serves the townships of Ada, Cascade, Grand Rapids and Tallmadge; the cities of Grand Rapids, East Grand Rapids, Kentwood and Walker; and portions of Ottawa County.

A MI legislative leader from Flint says Gov. Rick Snyder’s suggestion that the public also could drink from water coolers supplied to workers in a state office building is “insulting”.

It wasn’t until September, after Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha – a pediatrician at Flint’s Hurley Medical Center – and others raised alarms, that officials began to acknowledge that not only was there iron in the city’s tap water, but also alarming amounts of lead.

“Everyone recognizes that the community has an ethical responsibility to these families and these children”, Bruttell said. “While residents were being told to relax and not worry about the water, the Snyder administration was taking steps to limit exposure in its own building”.

Snyder said comments he made on Detroit radio Friday morning, in which he said he hoped the Flint water could be safe to drink in three months, may have been taken out of context. Residents receive free water filters from National Guard soldiers on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016, at a Flint Fire Station in downtown Flint, Mich. Flint’s water became contaminated when the city, under emergen…

“If Flint were 57 percent white and not 57 percent black, you wonder whether or not the kind of callous indifference that’s being shown – not just by our state government but by Republican candidates who won’t even speak up for a whole population of 100,000 people who are facing a serious crisis”.

Lead isn’t a major concern for public health most of the time, Yankee said, but it’s smart to be aware of when it might be – and that’s rarely related to water.

It’s the second round of state aid for the city since the crisis was confirmed in the fall.

The Republican governor says “other things like that have been going on for some time now”. Laura Tanner told The Ann Arbor News that she and a friend gave Snyder an earful at the Old Town Tavern. Those pipes are replaced when a portion leaks, breaks or is exposed by construction projects, despite not being required, and the corrosion control treatment employed by the city provides a protective barrier throughout the water system.

Every discussion of regulatory reorganization or new legislation should include research, data, expert analysis and input, community engagement, total transparency and accountability focused on one outcome – demonstrably safe drinking water.