New Flint water probe draws critics; NAACP to outline plan

Defendants in the case are state Treasurer Nick Khouri, Flint Administrator Natasha Henderson and members of the Flint Receivership Transition Advisory Board, which is guiding the city’s transition from state control under an emergency manager to democratic control under Flint Mayor Karen Weaver and the Flint City Council.

Flint residents are now unable to drink unfiltered tap water, and tests have shown high lead levels in some children’s blood.

The Michigan attorney general’s investigation into the process that left Flint’s drinking water tainted with lead is drawing bipartisan criticism, with a Republican leader saying Tuesday that it duplicates the work of a state task force and Democrats questioning whether the special counsel will be impartial.

“I am not confident that he can serve in the best interest of the Flint citizens”, Garrett said of the attorney general.

The Vicksburg native is among the Tougaloo College students collecting water for residents of Flint.

Also on Wednesday, a coalition of Flint residents and national groups filed a lawsuit asking a federal court in Detroit to compel city and state officials to replace all lead water pipes promptly and at no cost to residents.

State officials disconnected Flint from Detroit’s water supply in 2014 and began using the Flint River to save money.

Governor Rick Snyder vowed to help “address the damage that’s been done” in the predominantly poor and black city of 100,000 after cost-cutting efforts exposed residents to lead poisoning.

Weaver said the city has retained Edwards to oversee all state and federal water testing.

“We’re trying to take action that is specific, that’s focused, that’s urgent and speaks to the people’s needs”, he said.

The head of a local nonprofit will be in Flint, Mich., today and Thursday to help students there share how they are coping with the city’s water crisis. Snyder said work is being done to find lead service lines, to be followed by a cost calculation for replacing them.

Flint has about 33,000 water service lines, of which at least 15,000 are estimated to be lead service lines.

The water apparently became contaminated in 2014 when the financially strapped city switched from Detroit water to the Flint river.

Leyton joins the list of state and federal prosecutors looking into the handling of the city’s drinking water. She added that he will be “fully independent”, report to her and get paid through private donations.

Jake McSigue, 6, of Linden, receives a package of bottled water through the window of his grandma’s home January 21, 2016 in Flint, Michigan.

The Safe Drinking Water Act, established in 1974, requires the Environmental Protection Agency to create minimum standards for safe tap water.

“Some people have been paying their bills, and we thank them for that because we need the money”, Weaver said. Lead is a neurotoxin that can damage the brain and cause other health problems. President Barack Obama declared an emergency in Flint earlier this month, qualifying the city for $5 million.

The Republican attorney general also said his office is reviewing what can be done to prevent Flint residents from being billed for water.