Michigan Governor Snyder: Flint getting $2M to get rid of lead pipes

“This funding continues Michigan’s substantial and coordinated response to the Flint water crisis”, Snyder said in a statement.

The governor announced his plan in a news release Tuesday night and is expected today to offer additional details.

State Representative Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) also called for money to start work now on digging up and replacing lead pipes. But he added “there is not an urgent reason to get the pipes out of the ground” until the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finishes its sampling. “The people of my city have simply run out of patience and I have a moral obligation to act”. Flint children soon began turning up with dangerously high levels of lead in their blood, which can cause brain damage.

Weaver was not on board with that. As a result lead, a neurotoxin, and other contaminants seeped into the water through the pipes. The study, performed by Food and Water Watch, found Flint residents paid an average of $864.32 to drink tainted water, as of January 2015. In earlier committee meetings and in the Senate, Democrats offered amendments to double the figure to $60 million.

“We need more resources to complete the work and I urge the Legislature to move quickly in getting that money freed up so we can start work as quickly as possible”, she said. “Then we can figure out exactly what it will cost over the long-term to fix our broken water distribution system”.

“Even in Phoenix, where there’s a desert, they don’t pay as much as we do out here”. Everyone needs to be prepared for that possibility. Her goal is to get pipes replaced, which is my goal. Snyder is seeking to direct another $195 million toward the crisis, including $30 million to cover a portion of residents’ and businesses’ water bills for two years and $25 million to replace service lines. The 41-year-old used it in the painting this month as a permanent reminder of children affected in Flint.

Snyder said recoating pipes while planning to replace them “are not mutually exclusive”.

Retired National Guard Brig.

Meanwhile, Michael Pitt, also an attorney litigating these cases, believes their solid legal argument – that Snyder and several state officials violated the due process rights of Flint residents – makes the immunity issue moot.

The Flint firm hired by the state is no stranger to the city’s water system. It turns out that households in the city paid dearly for the privilege, with the poisoned water flowing through the city’s taps past year being the most costly in the nation.