Federal prosecutors working with EPA on Flint water probe

Snyder spokesman Dave Murray said the state would cooperate with any requests from the U.S. Attorney’s Office “as it looks into Flint’s water challenges”. It will be followed by discussions about the source of Flint’s water, health consequences and the politics of water.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office, along with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is investigating the contamination of Flint’s drinking water supply, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Last week, Gov. Rick Snyder apologized and Michigan’s top environmental regulator resigned after a task force blamed problems on his agency.

The city temporarily switched from Detroit’s water system to Flint River water in a cost-cutting move in 2014, while under state financial management.

Gina Balaya of the U.S. Attorney’s Office would not say whether the investigation is a criminal or civiI matter.

The new water absorbed lead from Flint’s aging pipes, and researchers discovered a corresponding increase of lead levels in the bloodstreams of local children.

Curt Guyette of Michigan’s American Civil Liberties Union responded to the investigation: “We think that this is an important step that needs to be taken in order to get to finding the root causes of the disaster that has occurred in Flint and to hold everyone involved responsible”.

“In their short-sighted effort to save a buck, the leaders who were supposed to be protecting Flint’s citizens instead left them exposed to dangerously high levels of lead contamination”, Michael Steinberg, legal director for the ACLU of MI, said in a statement.

The situation could affect the city for many years. The declaration goes on to state that lead in service lines, or solder connections, can leach into individuals’ homes because “of the corrosivity of the water since changing to the Flint River as the source supply”. At the time, Flint was under the authority of an emergency manager appointed by the state of Michigan, Reuters notes. Flint switched back to Detroit’s water supply in October after high blood lead levels came to light. The city of Flint has been under a local emergency declaration since December 14, 2015.