Class about Flint’s water crisis generating big interest

Snyder requested the declaration in order to free up $96 million in federal aid for Flint.

The second-term Republican pledged during his annual State of the State speech Tuesday night to fix the emergency in Flint and to have greater transparency by releasing his own emails on the matter. “It is completely unacceptable that respected scientific experts and our trusted local physicians have verified that the City of Flint’s drinking water is unsafe for our citizens, especially our most vulnerable young people”, Ananich wrote.

6 News Joe Gebhardt went to Flint Wednesday to get reaction.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is planning to release all his email correspondence relating to the Flint water crisis.

Snyder, a Republican and former businessman, has said he accepts full responsibility for the crisis, emphasizing that point in his State of the State speech on Tuesday. On Jan. 5 he declared a state of emergency in Flint and deployed the Michigan National Guard to aid efforts to distribute bottled water, home filters and water-testing devices to residents.

In his first public remarks on the water crisis gripping Flint, Michigan, President Obama said he would be “beside myself” if he were a parent there.

President Barack Obama has told autoworkers in Detroit that his administration is doing what it can to assist Flint in that city’s water crisis. “The residents and particularly the poor need help to deal with it”.

The next day, Muchmore wrote to Snyder and other top aides that critics were focusing on the lead issue and “looking for someone to blame”, but two state agencies and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “can’t find evidence of a major change” in lead contamination. After it was confirmed the water contained elevated levels of lead by independent studies, it was switched back to the city of Detroit’s Lake Huron system.

This a letter to Snyder from the Flint Water Advisory Task Force, which blames the Department of Environmental Quality for the crisis.

Then-chief of staff Dennis Muchmore also told the governor that residents were “caught in a swirl of misinformation” about lead contamination and that it was up to local leaders to confront the issue, according to the emails.

The governor’s office and Legislature are exempt from Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act, which requires public disclosure of records related to government.

Snyder has been criticized for his reaction to the crisis of hazardous lead levels found in local drinking water after the city tapped the Flint River rather than using the Detroit municipal supply.

The task force chairman, Ken Sikkema, said in a separate message that the finding was “critical and urgent” and could not be delayed until the group completed its report.

It wasn’t until October 18th that then MDEQ Director Dan Wyant admitted in an email to Snyder, “I believe now we made a mistake”.

The Obama Administration said those declarations are used to address natural disasters such as floods or fires. The population is almost 60 percent black.

He met Tuesday at the White House with Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, who was in Washington for a mayors’ conference.

“I’m staying focused on what I need to get from him right now”, Weaver said Wednesday. Rick Snyder says MI will commit $28 million in the short term to pay for filters, bottled water and health professionals in Flint’s water crisis. He asked MI lawmakers to authorise spending on diagnostic tests, health treatment for children and adolescents, replacement of old fixtures in Flint schools and day care centres and a study of the city’s water pipes.

The House voted unanimously Wednesday, and the measure moves to the Senate for expected action next week. He has said he plans to make a bigger request in his February budget proposal. He also announced the deployment of roughly 130 more National Guard members to the city.