Flint Mayor Knew About Bad Water’s Direct Connection to Legionnaires Disease Outbreak

Flint – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the 9,000 children in Flint under age 6 should have their blood tested for potential lead poisoning after some water tests showed lead levels in the city’s water may exceed the capacity of faucet filters, a federal health official said Thursday.

The Flint water crisis has become a national story, and a congressional hearing on the issue was held on Wednesday.

Meijer also has been coordinating the donation of numerous truckloads of bottled water to the city. “The majority of the cases reside or have an association with the city”, Jim Henry, Genesee County’s environmental health supervisor, wrote in March 10 to Flint leaders, the city’s state-appointed emergency financial manager and the state Department of Environmental Quality.

Marc Edwards, a water engineering professor at Virginia Tech, said that small mistakes on the part of the state and the EPA were what caused the crisis. The city’s supply was switched from Detroit water to the Flint River in 2014, but not properly treated, resulting in corrosion of lead pipes. While Lawrence applauded Wednesday’s hearing, she and other Democrat renewed their call for Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and other state officials to testify.

“This is a failing at every level”, said U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), opening the hearings in Washington.

Attorneys Valdemar Washington and Susan Burke filed the lawsuit in federal court last January 31, said Detroit Free Press.

The acting chief of the Environmental Protection Agency’s water office has told Congress that the crisis in Flint caused by lead in drinking water was “avoidable” and that state officials resisted calls to deal with it.

“We are missing the most critical witness of all: the governor of the State of MI”, said an emotional Elijah Cummings, the ranking member on the committee.

Snyder told CNN last week that he’s committed to dealing with the water crisis and won’t step down.

Former Region 5 EPA Director Susan Hedman also failed to appear despite a subpoena. However, Lee-Anne Walters, the Flint resident who was found to have extremely high lead levels in her tap water in early 2015, reportedly delivered the harshest testimony and said that her early appeals for help from officials were “dismissed”.

What really bothered me was the reaction of so-called “celebrities” such as Michael Moore and others around the country who immediately condemned Gov. Snyder so quickly and insisted on his firing without even knowing the facts.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said 100,000 residents “have been poisoned, and Republicans do nothing”.

“It’s another example of looking at this from an overly technical view as opposed to a human view”, he said.

The aid would provide credit for the estimated portion of residential customers’ bills for water that was or will be used for drinking, cooking or bathing from 2014 until this spring.

This comes after a growing outcry from Flint residents about having to pay for water that isn’t safe to drink.

Snyder briefed city officials and pastors in Flint earlier in the day about his plan, which he will formally outline to the Republican-controlled Legislature next week in conjunction with his annual budget proposal.