Emails Show Officials Told About Flint Water, Legionnaires’ Link Last March

Flint’s water remains tainted with lead from old pipes after the city switched its supply source in April 2014 and has forced residents to use filters before consuming.

Professor Edwards was the most vocal in the accusations of a cover-up, testifying that “the blame lies with these three or four employees who were actively misleading everyone” and that the EPA had been “aiding and abetting” the MDEQ in the cover-up of the Flint water crisis.

Snyder said in January that he had just learned about the rise in Legionnaires cases. The more corrosive water from the river leached more lead from the city pipes than Detroit water did.

Legionnaires’ disease is a pneumonia-like illness caused by bacteria that can only infect humans when inhaled in water vapor, not through drinking. “But states are the primary enforcement agencies for the Safe Water Drinking Act, not the EPA”, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), ranking member of the committee, said Wednesday.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Republicans and Democrats would continue negotiations through the weekend in hopes of salvaging the energy bill. The mist may come from air-conditioning units for large buildings, hot tubs or showers.

“While we continue to coordinate resources from all levels to ensure the health and welfare of Flint residents, we must also recognize that some Flint-area businesses have been impacted by this water emergency”, Snyder said in a statement. The federal government recently denied Snyder’s request to expand the age cutoff, which is 5, so Democrats sought to use state money to do so.

The email further showed that county health officials had been unable to perform tracebacks in order to find a source for the disease, and that the state health department couldn’t step in unless they were invited by the county or unless it was a multi-county outbreak.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has apologized repeatedly for the state’s role in the crisis.

Lonnie Scott, the director of Progress Michigan, said the emails showed that either Snyder ignored the warnings about Legionnaires’ disease or the culture within his administration was one of arrogance and ignorance. “I’m critical of the EPA in this case, don’t get me wrong”, Kildee said. She was “cut off”, as she puts it, and besides, she had other things to worry about: In the past few years her mother died, she separated from her husband, and then she lost her son, too, from complications related to diabetes. In the article Moore goes on to make even more startling accusations and reveals some extremely shocking truths about what has been happening in Flint for a lot longer than most people think.

The additional $30 million will be included in a supplemental bill for the current fiscal year, which ends September 30, and not the 2016-17 spending plan, state budget office spokesman Kurt Weiss said.

Non-profit media organization Progress Michigan acquired the internal emails through a public information request.