Bernie Sanders: Snyder should resign over Flint water

The emergency assistance, which was requested by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, will provide water, water filters, water filter cartridges, water test kits, and “other necessary related items” for three months.

The new emergency declaration will enable the Federal Emergency Management Agency to spearhead efforts to “alleviate the hardship and suffering” of Flint residents.

In what’s become a huge government scandal, Flint’s drinking water became contaminated with lead after the city temporarily switched its supply source from Lake Huron water treated by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to more corrosive and polluted Flint River water, treated at the Flint water treatment plant.

Despite residents complaining about the water, and a pediatrician presenting a report about elevated levels of lead in the blood of children living in Flint, the problem was not publicly acknowledged until October 2015. Clinton also wrote that although she was relieved that the Michigan Legislature approved more than $9 million to help Flint fix its water supply that she was “calling on the state of Michigan to finance water purchases from Detroit until safe drinking water is fully restored in Flint”.

To keep the water flowing until then, the city began drawing from the river.

Flint, Mich., resident Randy Huyck Jr., 17, throws a case of bottled water into the back of a volunteer’s vehicle as Detroit-area volunteers drop off more than 500 cases of bottled water in Flint on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016.

These days, it’s a place where parents fear for the health of young children, who can develop learning disabilities and behavior problems from lead exposure.

The crisis has led to President Barack Obama signing an emergency declaration for federal funds to be allocated to relieving the situation. “Gov. Snyder should resign”.

Marc Edwards, a water quality expert who is leading an independent probe of the scandal, said that the country’s Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] also played a role in trying to cover up Flint’s crisis. Emergency funding is initially limited to $5 million, and the president must alert Congress if additional resources are needed. Snyder said Saturday that Obama initially had denied the disaster declaration request based on the legal requirement that such relief is intended for natural events, fires, floods or explosions.

“The state was telling everybody, ‘It’s fine, relax….” The lead contamination was a result of the water not being treated well enough to prevent the corrosion of lead pipes and fixtures, which in turn led to the toxic element leaching into the water supply.