Michigan to work with US on Flint water issue

BRAD WURFEL: Anyone who is concerned about lead in the drinking water in Flint can relax. We were getting pallets and pallets of water delivered.

IT’S an environmental disaster of epic proportions and one that could take years to fix.

But in early 2014, with the city under the control of an emergency manager appointed by Snyder, officials switched to Flint River water in a bid to save money.

That would be an order of magnitude larger than the $5 million that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has earmarked for Flint since Obama declared a federal emergency last week.

For months, the DEQ engaged in denial, apparent cover-up, and belittling of researchers and journalists concerned about credible reports showing high levels of lead in the water.

“We’ve been paying for it for so long”.

In January 2015, tests were done to Flint’s drinking water, which showed that the corrosive Flint River water was leaching lead from the city’s water pipes. The change instantly resulted in foul, discolored tap water and triggered complaints of rashes and hair loss.

The emergency manager, reporting directly to the governor, still refused to act.

Mary Stevenson, the director of Center for Hope, a local charity, said people from around the midwest have loaded their cars up with bottled water and driven to Flint to donate it, while others around the country have shipped donations.

Calls for Snyder to resign have intensified as it has grown increasingly clear that the MI governor ignored warnings that the water supply of Flint had been tainted.

SMITH: Wurfel said there was no broad problem in Flint.

Gov. Snyder admitted to failures on the state’s part.

South African comedian Trevor Noah, the host of “The Daily Show”, joked about Flint, suggesting a fundraising campaign in Africa “to save a village in America and get these people drinking the water that they so badly need”.

Truscott says while it’s evident that the faith and trust Flint residents had in state government is destroyed and the governor’s reputation has been harmed, it’s premature to pass judgment or draw conclusions while emotions are still running high. And that allowed rust, iron and, most unsafe, lead from aging pipes to flow into residents’ homes. Ten patients died, he said. Experts are still investigating possible links. Many Flint residents now use bottled water for cleaning, watering flowers, even doing laundry.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has come under fire for handling the drinking water situation in Flint so badly that some critics refer to it as “Katrina II”. Snyder also rejects calls for his resignation.

Billions will need to be spent on new infrastructure as well as health care for the thousands affected by the compromised water supply.

But allocations are slim.

Good News: The day after this interview, Kildee got some good news.

Eden Wells, Michigan’s chief medical executive, said recently that all children who drank the city’s water since April 2014 have been exposed to lead. “[Governor Snyder] deserves to go to prison for this….” Though Legionnaire’s rates have now gone back down, for a while they were about nine times normal, and 10 people died.

“It’s not something they didn’t know”.

“I have made the tough decisions, always with an eye toward the bottom line”, Donald Trump once said. “I just want people to know I’m the captain of the ship, and the captain of the ship has to remain calm in the storm, right?”

Johnson, who lives outside the Flint city limit, said he feels “really lucky” that his family’s water wasn’t affected in the crisis, but numerous kids he goes to school with were not as fortunate.

His mother Tekera explained she refused to drink it.

Bush, in comments to ABC television’s This Week, blamed the crisis on water quality regulations that he said are too complex. “I refuse to put it in my mouth”.

His real concern, however, is that this crisis not be forgotten – “my top priority is that we make sure that there is help for the children affected, and that’s something that will take years”.