Unpaid Water Bills In Flint Could Hinder Repairs

On Jan. 13, less than three weeks ago, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder announced the drinking water for Genesee County, the county encompassing Flint, could be linked to two outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease in the area. Soon after, residents “complained about rashes and odd odors from the river water, but city and state officials mostly insisted that it was safe to drink”, according to The New York Times.

Earley was state-appointed financial manager in Flint when it switched its water supply to the Flint River in 2014 as a temporary cost-cutting move. Documents previously obtained by The Flint Journal showed some state officials long suspected a connection.

Snyder will brief city officials and pastors in Flint about the proposal Wednesday and outline it to lawmakers in his annual budget proposal next week, according to a statement his office provided to The Associated Press.

Yet Democratic Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters of MI wanted to use the bipartisan package as a vehicle for federal aid to Flint, which has already received more than $35 million from the state to cope with its undrinkable water.

“The increase of the illnesses closely corresponds with the timeframe of the switch to the Flint River water”. So a household that pays $150 a month could get a $46 monthly credit, or about $1,100 for 24 months of having water that has had a host of problems, not just lead-related.

The mayor admitted she was unsure what it would cost to replace the pipes in some 30,000 Flint households, but firmly noted it “must happen immediately”.

Whereas 9,000 residential customers, who didn’t pay for their water bills during the period from 2014, will be put on a payment plan and receive 35 percent of their water fees. Officials don’t yet know why that’s the case, he said. The failure to implement a legally required corrosion control plan certainly contributed to the crisis, testified Marc Edwards, the Virginia Tech water expert whose Freedom of Information Act requests exposed how MI state officials tried to hide evidence of lead contamination-but so did failures of the EPA. “I want to make sure in writing that there are no misunderstandings regarding this significant and urgent public health issue”.

“Let’s use Flint as an opportunity to address the problem of infrastructure in our state”, Snyder said Friday.

Countering the federal official, Keith Creagh, director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, acknowledged that the state should have required Flint to treat its water, but said the EPA “did not display the sense of urgency that the situation demanded”, allowing the problem to fester for months.

Attorney Billy Murphy says the lawsuit he filed this week will compensate Flint residents for paying for water that he calls “incredibly risky”.

The main defendant in the lawsuit is McLaren Regional Medical Center in Flint, as well as six others who are employed by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

She said, “The county was alerting and alarmed and seeking cooperation and help from outside agencies”.