Flint Water Crisis: Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, DEQ Issued Subpoenas

Snyder declared a state of emergency in Flint on January 5 and then activated the Michigan National Guard, which has been assisting with water distribution efforts.

Tests have shown high lead levels in some children after Flint switched from Detroit water to the Flint River in 2014 to save money.

The governor is also under fire over the way he has been handling the crisis in Flint, a municipality that is predominantly African-American and one of the poorest cities in the nation. They charge that Flint residents are victims of “environmental racism” – that is, race and poverty factored into how Flint wasn’t adequately protected and how its water became contaminated with lead, making the tap water undrinkable.

Edwards will serve on Snyder’s 17-person panel, along with Mona Hanna-Attisha, the pediatrician who confirmed a sharp increase in the number of children showing elevated levels of lead in their bloodstreams after the city switched its water supply to the Flint River in April 2014. “We are focused on helping the people of Flint”, said Snyder Press Secretary Dave Murray.

Snyder made the same claim during his State of the State earlier this month.

“All eyes are on Detroit and Flint now: We live in a developed country, developed cities, but we’re living in Third World conditions”, Beulah Walker, chief coordinator of the nonprofit Detroit Water Brigade, which gives out bottled water to those who need it, told the Detroit News.

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver said Snyder is requesting $3 million in supplemental state funds for water bills.

The federal assistance could help the state stretch its resources as it looks to provide wrap-around services for Flint residents exposed to lead and ensure access to nutritional foods that can reduce the effects, said Department of Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon.

Also on Wednesday, a coalition of local citizens 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.

The lawsuit asks a federal court to compel the city and state officials to follow federal requirements for testing and treating water to control for lead and to order the prompt replacement of all lead water pipes at no cost to Flint residents. The river water was not properly treated, causing lead to get into the drinking water supply.

Activists and environmentalists said the government needs to spend whatever it takes to make sure the water is safe to drink – and complies with federal rules.

Michigan’s Republican attorney general named a former prosecutor to spearhead an investigation into the process that left Flint’s drinking water tainted with lead, though Democrats questioned whether the special counsel would be impartial.

“I feel legal actions should be taken upon the government for not doing the jobs they’re paid to do”, Prophet said. Two seek class-action status and financial compensation; another asks a judge to declare that users do not have to pay their water bills. The EPA said Tuesday that teams are preparing to collect samples to confirm that lead is being removed by those filters.