Flint water crisis in the national spotlight

The Flint water crisis began in April 2014 after the city switched sources for its water supply to save money.

Snyder said in a news release the work of the Flint Water Interagency Coordinating Committee will be in addition to immediate steps that are under way, such as distributing bottled water and filters that remove lead from water, and arranging for children to be blood-tested for exposure to lead poisoning.

And Republican Gov. Rick Snyder deemed that Flint River water would still flow into people’s homes for another year, until they switched the water source back to Lake Huron, last October.

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Protests are growing in Flint, Michigan, over the state’s cover-up of the ongoing water contamination crisis. In the past 16 months, abnormally high levels of e. coli, a unsafe bacteria; trihamlomethanes, which make hot showers potentially toxic; lead, which causes long-term neurological problems; and copper have been found in the city’s water. Former DEQ Director Dan Wyant resigned last month.

“It’s hard to believe that in 2016, people in the United States have to contend with poisoned drinking water, but that’s the sad situation that many Flint residents are contending with”.

Sunday editorial pages and national news shows were harshly critical of the state’s response to the Flint crisis.

“We also have engaged FEMA in this process”, the governor said at a news conference in Flint.

Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickell and others offered bottled water and filters Thursday while Flint’s mayor was meeting in the Capitol with Gov. Rick Snyder.

He also said damage assessments are taking place and more information is needed to determine whether a request for a federal disaster declaration will be needed.

“These folks are scared and anxious about the health impacts and they are basically getting blown off by us (as a state we’re just not sympathizing with their plight)”, Muchmore wrote in the email.

Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Interim Director Keith Creagh gave no timeline for when the tap water would be OK to drink, saying additional testing is needed.

That said, it’s highly unlikely that human rights violations will become a part of the investigation into Flint’s water supply. The state – which previously committed $10.6 million to reconnect Flint to Detroit and to respond with filters other services after initially downplaying the lead risk – could soon ask for federal help.

And Flint’s economically challenged citizens are still being billed for water that authorities say they shouldn’t consume or even use to brush their teeth. “This is a situation that no one wished would have ever happened, but it has happened, and we want to be open and honest and say, ‘Let’s address it, proactively”.