Michigan Senate OKs $30 million to cover Flint water bills

On Wednesday at a hearing in Washington, U.S. lawmakers criticized environmental officials for not acting sooner when they saw drinking water in Flint was polluted with dangerously high lead levels.

Edwards said that the problem continued to grow when the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) denied warning signs of contamination after switching the water source.

“That person will be here at some point, but it’s going to take some more pulling”, said Chaffetz, who is promising to deploy U.S. Marshals to hunt down Earley and deliver a second subpoena.

The Detroit Water and Sewage Department talked about the problems of the Flint Water Department with respect to cleanliness, elimination of contaminants, mercury and lead levels, Kilpatrick said.

“I don’t care whether it’s the EPA, whether it’s local, whether it’s the state”, said Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. “I didn’t know what it was coming from”.

Flint’s water crisis began in 2014 after state officials switched the city’s water supply from its previous source.

Bolden had told the Free Press on Tuesday night that he refused the subpoena because neither he nor Earley had time to prepare but said he would accept another subpoena as long as it isn’t issued on such short notice.

Paul Egan writes that a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit announced this week that their team was “working with a multi-agency investigation team on the Flint water contamination matter, including the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, EPA’s Office of Inspector General, and EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division”. Flint is 57 percent black, and 42 percent of its residents live in poverty.

Sewer fees account for a little more than half of a typical Flint resident’s bill.

“All of this is a lot for people to handle, and enough is enough”, she said.

“(Citizens of Flint) trust no one but Virginia Tech”, said Flint resident LeeAnne Walters at the hearing.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, the chairman of the energy committee who has negotiated with Stabenow for weeks, proposed Thursday $50 million in emergency funding for Flint and access to a federal loan program that MI and others states with lead problems could tap to borrow additional money.

“Legitimate concerns raised by EPA’s own expert staff were not elevated or provided to either the city or the state for review and action until after the state’s response was well underway”, Creagh said.

She too resigned because of what happened in Flint.

Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked the first bipartisan energy bill in nearly a decade after majority Republicans balked over sending hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency aid to Flint, Michigan, to fix and replace the city’s lead-contaminated pipes.

Notably absent from the witnesses were Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and Darnell Earley, the former unelected emergency manager in Flint, appointed by Snyder.