Flint Gov’t Employees Got Purified Water While Private Citizens Get None

“It appears that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, at the direction of (former DEQ Director) Dan Wyant, failed to promptly and properly respond to the Flint water crisis, and that he resigned for that reason”, Cummings and Lawrence wrote.

Senate Democrats on Thursday proposed $400 million in new emergency federal funding to replace and fix lead-contaminated pipes in Flint, Michigan.

“DTMB provided water coolers near the drinking fountains in the Flint State Office Building to provide an option for the building tenants”, Buh said.

The city is now in the national spotlight after elevated blood levels were discovered in some Flint children after the city changed its water source from Lake Huron water purchased from the Detroit water system to the Flint River in April 2014, a decision made while the city was being run by a state-appointed emergency manager.

News that employees at a state building in Flint had received fresh bottled water came Thursday in emails released by Progress Michigan, a liberal group critical of Snyder. He says Flint once was a “cornerstone of American industry”, and that people “from coast to coast” need to step up. “The coolers will arrive today and will be provided as long as the public water does not meet treatment requirements”, the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget said in an advisory dated January 7, 2015.

Snyder has repeatedly apologized for the delay in addressing Flint’s problems, which have led some critics to call for his censure or arrest.

Spokesman Dave Murray said he didn’t know if workers promoted that it was available, but no signs prohibited the public from drinking water from the coolers.

The state spending bill includes $500,000 for outside experts to study the integrity of the water system infrastructure. It would be some eight months before city officials would admit that the tap water was unsafe to use, according to an email obtained by Progress Michigan, Vox reports.

Activists in Flint plan to present petitions with nearly 20,000 signatures to Weaver and Snyder on Thursday calling for a moratorium on water bills.

On Jan. 23, 2015, the Detroit Free Press ran a story, accompanied by a photo of Flint residents holding up jugs of brown water, that said concerns of city residents ranged from the taste, appearance and odor of the water to unexplained rashes and illnesses, even sick pets.

Gov. Rick Snyder said the extension ensures Flint residents will have access to bottled water, filters, and testing kits, while long-term solutions are sought. Flint notified water customers at the time that it was in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act because of those levels and cautioned the elderly, infants and people with compromised immune systems.

State lawmakers unanimously approved the funding earlier this week. Improperly treated water leached lead from pipes into Flint’s drinking water.