Governor: $2 million for Flint pipe replacement

Great Lakes Water Authority Chief Operating Officer Sue McCormick authored a letter, sent February 11, intended for leaders in each of the communities which receive their drinking water from the newly formed consortium.

Flint residents paid roughly $864 a year for water service, almost double the national average. On average, publicly owned utilities charged Michiganders $323.47 per year for water, the study concluded.

“We are focused on supporting the people of Flint by helping to ensure they have access to clean water and the health services they need to mitigate the effects of lead exposure”, Burwell said in a statement after visiting the HCHN. The corrosive water ate away at the copper pipes – which had lead solder. The quality of those two water sources is very different, leading to the problems that resulted. The order came four months after a Hurley Medical Center study found elevated lead levels in blood samples taken from six-year-old children in Flint.

Some Democrats say the state should pay for more than 65 percent of residents’ bills. In Oct. 2014, General Motors’s Flint plant stopped using the water when they became anxious it was corroding their metal, MLive.com reported. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires continual testing of public water sources, often more than 100 times a month.

The governor’s office says the money comes in the form of a grant aimed at reimbursing the city for $2 million it paid to switch the city’s water supply back to the Detroit water system in October.

To date, a minimum of nine lawsuits have been filed in state and federal court since last fall, after lead seeped into the city’s water supply.

Looking at all the infrastructure in the city.

Rowe Professional Services is the local firm hired to analyze lines.

“That was a awful tragedy to have happened”, said Governor Rick Snyder. In major cities, water is overwhelmingly controlled by public entities. These unelected officials had the power to suspend local government and unilaterally draft and veto policies. However, Jerry Ambrose, Flint’s emergency manager, vetoed their decision. The lack of action taken in Flint is directly correlated with its socioeconomic and demographic makeup. Rather than running water systems like businesses, or worse, handing them over to corporations, we need increased federal investment in municipal water. Multiple states have experienced lead poisoning crises (Louisiana, Alabama, West Virginia, Kentucky, etc.).

An artist says he’s used lead-infused paint to create a portrait of Gov. Rick Snyder amid Flint’s crisis with lead-tainted water. This is a man-made health emergency, and it is still hard to know how much the state will be held accountable. On Jan. 16, 2016, President Barack Obama declared a federal emergency in Flint, freeing up $5 million in federal aid. Presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Clinton, among other politicians, are now urging Snyder to resign. “The joke is, ‘We’re not from the government, we’re here to help you.’ But that’s the truth of it”.

Weaver said she welcomed the governor’s interest in working with the city to coordinate removal of the first 30 lead service lines, but noted that much more needs to be done by Snyder and others to secure full funding for her plan.