National Guard Activated to Distribute Water as Flint Lead Poisoning Crisis Continues

MI has deployed the National Guard to distribute bottled water and filters to residents in Flint who are struggling with a water crisis.

Its executive director resigned December 29, but a Freedom of Information request from a Virginia Tech researcher revealed a July email from Snyder’s top aide, acknowledging that Flint residents were “basically getting blown off by us” in the state’s response to lead contamination problems.

Snyder declared an emergency in Flint last week, three months after his office was presented with tests showing that numerous city’s children had elevated levels of lead in their blood.

“The Michigan National Guard is trained and ready to assist the citizens of Flint”, he said. Maurice Rice organizes cases of water at the Joy Tabernacle Church on Monday, Jan. 11, 2016, in Flint, Mich. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder pledged Monday that officials would make contact with every househo…

Snyder also said he has asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help provide resources to help Flint.

A series of public decisions, driven by misguided management practices and ideological principles that backfired, converged during the past 20 months to poison the city’s drinking water and cause one of the most severe public health threats in the U.S. The extent of the risk to Flint’s residents is not clear.

The water resource teams are among a number of relief efforts started in the wake of Republican Gov. Rick Snyder declaring an emergency last week.

And Earley, the emergency manager who planned Flint’s switch to river water? He’s asking people to report potential scams to police, including people trying to sell filters they got for free.

Lead toxicity is risky for children because it can interfere with the development of the brain and nervous system, and carries other health risks for many organs and systems, some of which may not be apparent for years after exposure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“I want the Flint community to know how very sorry I am that this has happened”, Snyder said in a statement.

Snyder’s response to the water crisis has continuously escalated since October, when the state admitted it had made mistakes that led to high levels of the deadly neurotoxin in Flint’s water. In late December, he accepted the resignation of the state official whose agency, the Department of Environmental Quality, oversees water quality.

The city’s water supply is contaminated with toxic levels of lead, and residents are unable to drink the water that comes through their taps.