US House Democrats ask Snyder for Flint documents

He says the water coolers still are supplied to the state building in Flint.

“While the City of Flint states that corrective actions are not necessary, DTMB is in the process of providing a water cooler on each occupied floor, positioned near the water fountain, so you can choose which water to drink”, the notice states.

“Gov. Rick Snyder was at the top of my list of witnesses due to the central role that he has played in this manmade crisis; from the decision to shift from Flint’s original water source for cost-savings to the appalling delay in response to months of complaints by lead-poisoned residents and their children”, Lawrence said in the statement. Last fall, studies conducted by the local Hurley Medical Center and later by the state found that lead levels in the blood of Flint children younger than 5 had almost doubled since the city began tapping from the Flint River.

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

Thanks to the work of Rick Snyder and his team of little dictators – aka “Emergency Managers” – the people of Flint have been drinking and bathing in contaminated water for more than a year.

She said she’s lost all trust in state government and Wiley said new emails released, showing that the state trucked in water a year ago for some of its employees, simply add salt to the wound.

“What’s going on in other parts of the country, specifically the upper Midwest, that’s not a situation we are going to get involved in here”, said Tom Barger, Regional Water Authority of New Haven.

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.

“It’s time to stand up and recognize that things could have been done differently”, Snyder said before signing the aid legislation Friday. Instead, residents are stuck with toxic water and the state of MI will now have to spend tens of millions of dollars cleaning up the disaster in Flint. MI law states that parents are neglectful if they do not have running water in their home, and if they chose not to pay for water they can’t drink anyway, then they could be guilty of child endangerment.

State lawmakers unanimously approved the funding earlier this week.

Snyder has accepted responsibility for the emergency while also blaming state and federal environmental regulators, some of whom have resigned or have been suspended. Protesters have also been rallying outside Snyder’s residence, and there have been longshot efforts to recall him from office. Moore also said that Flint residents who wanted to leave should be relocated and that those who wanted to stay should be provided clean water from Lake Huron by the federal government.

We’ll have more on today’s state funding coming up this afternoon starting with First at Four.

Outside the mayor’s offices, where the meeting was taking place, Lila Cabbil (LIE’-luh KAB’-uhl) of the People’s Water Board and Lynna Kaucheck (LIN’-uh KAW-‘chek) of Food and Water Watch showed off the 21,000-plus petition signatures they were delivering.