In Flint Crisis, Cops Are Going Door-to-Door – Giving Out Water

The move is the latest by government officials to lessen the fallout from the lead poisoning of Flint’s water supply, following a state of emergency declaration by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder (R) last Tuesday.

Snyder declared an emergency January 5 in order to distribute water, filters and test kits to state residents.

Although the state assisted the city in moving its source of drinking water back to Lake Huron water supplied by Detroit in October, concerns about contamination remain because the river water damaged pipes and other infrastructure.

Water drawn from the Flint River leached lead from old plumbing for months. Snyder is the midst of a growing scandal over lead in the Flint water system.

Water filters and replacement cartridges continue to be available during those same times at the following locations: the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services offices at 125 E. Union St. and 4809 Clio Rd.; the Genesee County Community Action Resource Department offices at 4809 Clio Rd. and 2727 Lippincott; and Flint City Hall at 1101 S. Saginaw St.

Michigan DEQ director Dan Wyant resigned in December 2015 after a state task force report was highly critical of the agency’s handling of the crisis, as did DEQ spokesman Brad Wurfel, whose wife Sara worked as a spokeswoman for Snyder and issued a number of statements related to the water crisis on the governor’s behalf. “There’s more work to be done”, Snyder said during a news conference with state and local officials in Flint. The threat, Racine Police Chief Art Howell said, is one local residents can relate to – the outbreak of cryptosporidium in Milwaukee in 1993.

Long story short, Flint’s water is bad, add in some shifty things from politicians and the Governor, and yeah… google Flint water if you want more info.

Residents in Flint – a municipality that is 56 percent black and one of the poorest cities in the country – have been suffering from a lack of clean tap water for over a year.

Critics continued to say Snyder is responding to the lead contamination problem too slowly.

Lindsey Smith, west Michigan reporter for Michigan Radio, where she’s also been the lead reporting on the Flint water crisis.

Still, residents said they were grateful that state officials and federal investigators were now engaged. Snyder said he may ask state lawmakers for additional money for the emergency before his budget proposal in February.