MI restores some powers to Flint mayor amid water crisis

Two Michigan Department of Environmental Quality workers were suspended Friday for actions they took related to water testing in Flint, Gov. Rick Snyder said. In 2014, the state tried to save money by switching Flint’s water supply from Detroit to the Flint River. That can lead to corrosion and corrosion of lead pipes can make our water risky to drink.

Sergio Kapusta, a fellow at NACE International, an industry organization that develops corrosion prevention and control standards in Houston, says that “changing all the mains in the city will not really solve the problem for the homeowners” because the lead piping in these homes probably has been severely compromised.

Snyder suspended without pay two staffers of the Department of Environmental Quality for their role in the 2014 switch of Flint’s water source from the Detroit water system to the long-polluted Flint River. The government announced Friday that it had denied an appeal of that decision by Snyder.

The board meeting came one day after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said a top regional official would resign because of the crisis. They didn’t learn the water was tainted until the state issued warnings a year and a half later.

The EPA “is deeply concerned by continuing delays and lack of transparency”, the letter said, describing the measures as “essential to ensuring the safe operation of Flint’s drinking water system and the protection of public health”. Snyder apologized this week to Flint residents for the state’s failures.

“Of course, some of the Flint people respond by looking for someone to blame instead of working to reduce anxiety”, he wrote in an email, one of more than 270 pages released this week by Snyder in response to the growing crisis.

“That’s part of our responsibility as a water company is to put that corrosion prohibitor in there, the anti-corrosion matter, so that we’re helping them not corrode their internal pipes”, Goede said. On Thursday, Peter Grevatt, director of the EPA’s Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, spent almost 1 1/2 hours briefing congressional staff members on the crisis, but refused to answer questions from a reporter afterwards as he was hustled outside by his staff. Requests to interview Hedman have gone unanswered as well.

Before homeowners do anything, they need to wait for the city either to correct sections of its system that are corroded or to replace the system.

This week, President Obama pledged $80 million in federal money to help in the recovery, and the Michigan House approved $28 million in emergency funding for Flint.

The outrage over the crisis has led to an outpouring of support and donations, including some from high-profile stars and MI natives. Holmes said the more he learns about the effects of lead poisoning, the more anxious he becomes.

Flint, a city about 75 miles north of Detroit, is the birthplace of General Motors and once had 200,000 residents.