Michigan questions some US demands regarding Flint water

Jeb Bush on Sunday praised Rick Snyder, the beleaguered governor of MI, for “stepping up” in response to the crisis over lead-poisoned drinking water in the city of Flint.

If a lead-laced water supply wasn’t enough to deal with, many residents of Flint, Michigan, face a new crisis: Replacing the water heaters, pipes and even the service lines to their homes that may have been destroyed by the city’s water.

The people of Flint were told by the city that the water was safe, and that the amusing taste and odd smells were just the pipes adjusting to the new system.

The number of children with elevated levels of lead in their blood tripled in one Flint ward and doubled in others from 2013 to 2015, after the city switched water sources.

By early October, the Snyder administration was forced to acknowledge the validity of the lead concerns and help Flint return to the Detroit water system.

Department of Environmental Quality Director Keith Creagh wrote in a letter Friday to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy that the state will work with her department and city of Flint.

Rick Snyder, under intense fire for his handling of the Flint water emergency, has hired an out-of-state public relations firm that specializes in crisis management. Snyder had estimated a need for up to $95 million over a year.

“He needs to do what he’s doing which is to accept responsibility and begin to solve the problem”, Bush said when asked if Snyder should resign, calling him “a great governor for MI”. Residents and local officials complained the water looked and smelled foul; but state officials failed to take action.

This week, President Obama pledged $80 million in federal money to help in the recovery, and the Michigan House approved $28 million in emergency funding for Flint.

Previously, the city used Lake Huron water treated by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department.

“For those whose mistakes contributed to this disaster”, Snyder said in his Tuesday speech, “we are fully cooperating with investigations and will hold those individuals accountable”.

Once the Flint water crisis was out in the open, he said that those agencies pointed fingers at each other rather than owning up to a problem, according to CNN.

“Over 3,000 children residing in Flint have been diagnosed with lead poisoning and other contaminated water illnesses”.

‘Gov. Snyder is committed to helping the people of Flint, protecting their health and safety and correcting the problems with the water, ‘ Dave Murray, press secretary for the governor, said in statement to MLive.com.

As the officials from the federal, state, and local level work to recover, what about recovering it’s reputation? The governor’s office told concerned residents that the River Flint’s water was safe to drink despite its discolouration.

Longer term, he said extensive testing would need to be done by outside experts, especially in order to regain the public trust.

Among them: submitting plans for ensuring that Flint’s water has adequate treatment, including corrosion controls; making sure city personnel are qualified to operate the water system in a way that meets federal quality standards; and creating a website where citizens can get information.

“It’s horrifying. And we were in Ethiopia together six or seven years ago and this Flint thing has reminded me of this time in this little village where these kids were collecting this water that was about the colour of chocolate milk”.