Genesee County health official suggests Snyder withheld information about lead test results

They still can’t drink their water.

One lead-fighting food Flint residents might not see a lot of at their neighborhood food pantry? The EPA has also been criticized for not taking tangible steps to stop the Flint crisis and notify residents of danger, despite being aware of it. A hearing on a new bill from Kildee, to require the EPA to notify residents of increased lead levels in water, was also held on Wednesday.

The rates of lead in children living in areas with the highest reported lead-water levels had more than tripled, she said.

But Governor Snyder said fixing all the pipes would not be “the best approach to start with”, pointing to recommendations by “hero” Dr Marc Edwards at Virginia Tech university who is leading the research team to solve the water crisis. What the protesters couldn’t hear was the governor’s efforts to placate them and others who are upset about the state’s late-to-the-game response to the Flint water crisis.

But without a comprehensive survey of all the homes in Flint, it is impossible to say how numerous city’s children might have been ultimately exposed.

As soon as the water samples were tested and the results verified, Snyder announced the results at a press conference in Flint on October 8, where he also announced the state would help reconnect the city to water from Detroit.

The measure, which began as a $600 million request from Democrats, had been trimmed to a $220 million proposal to fix Flint’s infrastructure, help with the ensuing health care crisis and to support more than $1 billion in infrastructure loans that could have gone to Flint and other places dealing with lead problems.

The needs of the city, beyond replacing lead service lines, are likely to far outstrip the $37m the governor has newly dedicated. “These are issues that we need to take head-on, in a positive, constructive way, with solutions”.

Snyder and legislators previously directed more than $37 million toward the crisis, including funds for bottled water, filters and services.

“Lead exposure can be…it can’t be cured but it can be overcome”, said Kildee.

The governor’s pushing to use tobacco settlement money as an alternative to the state School Aid Fund (SAF) to pay for the bailout. Regardless, that’s a lot of spending, and it’s all got to be approved by a Republican-led Legislature. The governor said he’s cooperating with various investigations into what happened, but, otherwise, he tried to put that in the past.

Yes. Experts say the problem could potentially have been avoided by simply adding phosphorous to the water. “It’s an opportunity to help people, and we want to help people”, he said.

Lawmakers hope to pass a final state budget by June.