MI governor to sign $28M bill to address water crisis

Michigan’s government installed coolers filled with purified water inside Flint’s State Office building so that state employees could drink clean water-more than a year before officials admitted to the common people of Flint that their water was unsafe. One water cooler was placed on each floor and next to public drinking fountains in the building that includes the Department of Health and Human Services, he said.

The agency that manages state buildings says coolers were introduced at the building after Flint flunked some drinking water standards.

Gov. Rick Snyder made it official Friday, signing a bill to provide funding to cope with ramifications of tainted water, damaged pipes and health problems for those who drank from the tap before authorities finally sounded the alarm.

Statewide, the tougher federal rules put in place in the 1990s have largely reduced the risk of drinking water containing hazardous levels of lead, said Bryan Swistock, a Penn State Extension water resources specialist.

“Gov. Snyder and his administration’s policies led to this man-made crisis and he must testify so that the whole truth can be found”, Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), who represents Flint, said in a Thursday statement.

In this Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016 photo, Porshe Loyd, uses bottled water to wash her three-week-old son, LeAndrew, in a baby bather in the kitchen sink at their home in Flint, Mich. At home she has cases of bottle…

It’s the second round of state aid for the city since the crisis was confirmed in the fall, bringing the total allocated to almost $39 million. After more than a year of complaining about the taste, color, and smell of the water, state officials admitted that there was lead in the water and that the pipes that fed the city were the cause. Two weeks earlier, the Snyder administration told its own employees in Flint – in writing – that “the public water does not meet treatment requirements”.

My, my, my. It took several more months before the state intervened to stop consumption of Flint’s tap water. Edwards is now a water consultant for the city of Flint. In January, the National Guard began handing out bottled water to residents.

He also requested, by Feb. 9, documents and communications to and from Hedman related to the Flint water supply, and those referring to EPA water expert Del Toral, who penned an in-house memo in February 2015 raising flags about problems posed by the lack of corrosion controls in Flint’s water.

A lead advisory was eventually issued in late 2015 after lead was discovered in children’s blood, with residents being instructed not to drink the water.

Governor Snyder has extended the state of emergency in Flint until April 14.

Democratic House members from MI are also calling for Snyder to appear before Congress. The water was not properly treated to keep lead from pipes from leaching into the supply.

The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Jake Neher reports on the Flint emergency funding bill passed by the Michigan Legislature.