Flint residents warned of lead above filter grade

Dr. Nicole Lurie of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the lead level in some Flint locations has exceeded 150 parts per billion, which is the level for which water filters are graded.

Caleb Buhs, a spokesman for the agency that manages state buildings, said water coolers were introduced at the State Office Building after Flint flunked some drinking water standards that weren’t related to lead. The lead filters distributed to residents and business in Flint by officials has a certified rating by the NSF International to treat water with up to 150 parts of lead per billion.

Gov. Rick Snyder told The Associated Press Friday he didn’t know anything about the water purchases.

One of the teachers at Price Elementary found out 2 days ago that a truck load of bottled water is head to Flint from Louisville and she went into action.

This means that the “reliable” water source from Lake Huron is now not safe anymore due to the way the Flint River water heavily corroded the city’s pipes. Some children’s blood has tested positive for lead, which has been linked to learning disabilities and other problems. John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican, raised doubts that it would happen, saying Flint’s crisis “is primarily a local and state responsibility”.

Water testing kits are available at City Hall and all Flint fire stations. The city notified water customers at the time that it was in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act but described the water as safe to drink. As a result, lead leached from pipes, joints and fixtures, contaminating the drinking water for an unknown number of Flint households.

“We have great water and they don’t”, she said. Many believe that the state was deliberately ignoring the basic needs of the city because sixty percent of the residents are black. The paint dust gets on the person’s hands and then is ingested when the person eats a sandwich, or it ends up on the ground and is walked through repeatedly.

On Friday, Snyder signed a bill providing $28 million in state aid to address the water crisis.

Researchers from Virginia Tech established in late summer that Flint’s water showed unsafe levels of lead.

“We are doing everything we can with one of the most-extensive water quality labs in the South”, Cedric Grant, executive director of the city’s water board, told CBS News. The emergency spending bill includes money for more bottled water and filters and services to monitor for developmental delays in young children.

“It is a failure of the city officials, it is a failure of the county officials, it is a failure of the state officials and the men and women of MI have been betrayed”, he said. “The Centers for Disease Control never apologized in Washington, D.C., nor did the EPA”.