MI governor signs $28M bill to address water crisis

FLINT, Mich. (AP) – Federal officials warned Flint residents Friday that water samples from more than two dozen locations have higher lead levels than can be treated by filters that have been widely distributed to deal with the city’s contamination crisis, underscoring the need for all residents to have their water tested. Buhs says state employees in Flint can also use drinking fountains. “While residents were being told to relax and not worry about the water, the Snyder administration was taking steps to limit exposure in its own building”.

Emails released by a liberal group critical of Snyder show the state was sending bottled water a year ago to state employees in Flint. “And, you know, I don’t know all the details of what Rick Snyder has done”.

Cummings and Lawrence want documents since January 2013 related to the drinking water supply in Flint, including emails to or from Snyder’s staff, former state Treasurer Andy Dillon and others; and several former Flint emergency managers, including Earley.

The governor said the state would be using “third-party expertise” to assess whether the phosphates were working and address public fears. A class-action lawsuit alleges the state Department of Environmental Quality didn’t treat the water for corrosion, in accordance with federal law, and because so many service lines to Flint are made of lead, the noxious element leached into the water of the city’s homes. The city’s notice stated referenced elevated trihalomethanes (TTHM).

Gov. Snyder’s administration has until February 9 to turn over all communications regarding Flint, dating back to 2011.

Del Toral will testify Tuesday about his reports to superiors and his work on Flint’s water.

In the end, we still have state employees (and local officials) discussing something wrong with Flint’s WQ, the state supplying their employees with bottled water in order to avoid it, but no one effectively following up to see what exactly the problem was and the risks present for everyone else for another several months.

Murray said there were concerns over the color and odor of Flint water at the time, and that advisories had been issued suggesting people with compromised immune systems avoid drinking the water. “I pledged to be accountable and those are not idle words – they are being put into action every day”, Snyder said. The city’s water system became badly contaminated with lead after switching to a new water source.

Shannon Nobles of Lansing, Michigan, joined the crowd outside the Michigan State Capitol on Tuesday to stand in support with residents of Flint. House Bill 5220 now goes to Governor Rick Snyder, who requested the emergency spending bill last week during his State of the State Address.

He says “other things like that have been going on for some time now” and that the criticism makes him “feel awful”, but that he remains focused on resolving the city’s problems. Laura Tanner told The Ann Arbor News that she and a friend gave Snyder an earful at the Old Town Tavern.