Flint’s State Employees Got Clean Water-A Year Before Everyone Else

Michigan’s state senate could approve $28 million Thursday to address the toxic water crisis in Flint.

In the end, we still have state employees (and local officials) discussing something wrong with Flint’s WQ, the state supplying their employees with bottled water in order to avoid it, but no one effectively following up to see what exactly the problem was and the risks present for everyone else for another several months. “The coolers will arrive today and will be provided as long as the public water does not meet treatment requirements”, the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget said on January 7, 2015, as reported by Time.

Flint’s water became contaminated with too much lead when its water source was switched in a cost-cutting measure in 2014.

The coolers were introduced after Flint officials warned residents about elevated levels of a disinfection byproduct called trihalomethane in the city’s water.

In the same email chain, a district engineer noted the reason for the water cooler delivery: “Appears certain state departments are concerned with Flint’s [water quality]”. “Let’s stand up together as Michiganders to say mistakes were made, problems happened, we’re going to solve them, we’re going to fix them, and we’re going to (be) stronger”. “Governor Snyder needs to explain to the people of Flint why his administration trucked water into a state building while allowing residents to drink unsafe water”.

Murray said there were concerns over the color and odor of Flint water at the time, and that advisories had been issued suggesting people with compromised immune systems avoid drinking the water.

Obama announced $80 million in new funding a week ago to help MI improve its water infrastructure.

In a related story, just a day after a coalition of environmental and civil rights group filed a federal lawsuit against the state demanding it replace all of the lead pipes in Flint’s water system, Michigan Senate Democrats are seeking to do the same.

Flint’s water crisis is affecting the health of thousands.

Rick Snyder appointed little dictators in Michigan who never had to be accountable to Michigan voters – and so, they didn’t consider – or they didn’t care – how the people of Michigan would be harmed by their decisions. The corrosive water was not treated properly to prevent the decades-old pipes from corroding and leaching lead into the city’s water supply.

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician in Flint, Michigan, was exposed lead poisoning in the city. There also is funding to hire outside experts to assess whether Flint’s water system infrastructure must be replaced or repaired.

The members includes Flint Mayor Karen Weaver and county and state officials.

Liam Briones sleeps in a auto seat as his father drives around from fire station to fire station gathering water for the week as it stacks around him in the back seat of the vehicle in downtown Flint on Thursday.