Senate Dems pitch $400 million fix for lead pipes in Flint

Snyder disclosed the figure during a tele-town hall event Wednesday with almost 8,000 listeners.

Department of Environmental Quality Interim Director Keith Creagh said the test results are not statistically valid because there’s no guarantee homeowner-provided samples are coming from homes at higher risk.

Flints water crisis has been going on for weeks, but a bright spot is how people and agencies across the country have stepped in to help, including one right here in the Ozarks.

Snyder told committee members it presents an opportunity to “leverage the resources” each brings.

Democratic Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow of MI are expected to offer an amendment aimed at protecting the water supply in Flint. In doing so, they are exposing the people of Flint to lead, a powerful toxin that can be devastating to young children. The state took over the city’s budget and chose to temporarily switch Flint’s water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River to save money.

Besides being a public relations nightmare, Flint government faces a problem that will only continue to worsen if actions are taken fast.

The suit calls for a federal court to order the city and state governments to carry out additional water testing and to replace all lead water pipes at no cost to Flint residents.

State environmental regulators failed to ensure the new water was treated properly, which led to lead from pipes leaching into the supply. Murphy submitted as evidence the state’s emergency declaration for Genesee County, and other documents.

Senate Democrats said Wednesday they will push to address the water crisis in Flint, Michigan as part of a bipartisan energy bill being debated in the Senate. He said more kids need to be tested, though. “It is unconscionable for people in the city of Flint to have to pay for water services, for water that they cannot bathe in, cannot cook with and cannot drink”. A top reason for continuing to use lead service lines instead of immediately digging them up is that utilities can treat water so it forms a coating on the interior of the pipes – a corrosion barrier that helps prevent lead particles from dislodging and traveling to your faucet.

The cost of replacing the pipes is also potentially astronomical-Flint mayor Karen Weaver tells the New York Times the estimate could be as high as $1.5 billion. She added that he will be “fully independent”, report to her and get paid through private donations.

The bill also requires federal action if a state refuses to warn the public about unsafe water and authorizes $20 million a year to monitor lead exposure in Flint.

Snyder also announced that the state would have an increased administrative presence in Flint and called it the beginning of a long-term effort.

The situation in Sebring is similar to Flint, Michigan’s current water crisis, where the public was uninformed for months about toxins detected in the drinking-water supply.

State Attorney General Bill Schuette said he is appointing a former prosecutor and Detroit’s former FBI chief to join the investigation of the water crisis, creating a “conflict wall” between the state’s inquiry and the lawsuits targeting the state.

With a GOP-dominated Legislature and GOP political appointees, Mr. Snyder was able to pass laws neutering democratically elected local offices, thus allowing him to appoint unelected “emergency financial managers”.

The complaint, which alleges violations of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, aims to secure safe drinking water in the city. So did Susan Hedman, the EPA’s regional administrator, after it was revealed that the agency knew as long ago as February that Flint residents might be drinking lead-tainted water.