Michigan governor expected to devote speech to water crisis

Governor Rick Snyder will deliver his sixth State of the State address to a joint session of the MI legislature Tuesday night.

President Obama has declared a state of emergency for Flint, Michigan, as the city’s drinking water crisis continues to grow.

In response, President Barack Obama signed a disaster declaration for Michigan Saturday, directing the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts.

Mike Bradley was reacting to news that Flint’s water has been contaminated by lead after switching to the Flint river as its supply.

Research has found that the water in the Flint River is 19 times more corrosive than Lake Huron’s water, causing old pipes to degrade and leach lead into the water.

Left-wing activist Michael Moore, who has famously advocated for his hometown of Flint in his documentaries, praised Clinton on Twitter for calling out Snyder.

The Republican also reiterated he’s focusing “on the solution and how to deal with the damage that was done”.

Flint residents will watch Governor Rick Snyder’s State of the State very closely.

A 2011 study found that before water from the Flint River could be considered potable, it would need to be treated with an anti-corrosion agent, a measure that would have cost the state about $100 a day.

In addition to an unspecified amount of emergency aid for Flint, Snyder has instructed state budget director John Roberts to completely revamp the 2017 fiscal year budget to include long-term budgeting for Flint’s recovery, according to the source.

Kelly Rossman-McKinney, a veteran public relations and crisis communications consultant and CEO of Truscott Rossman, told the Detroit Free Press she “can’t think of another governor that really had this level of crisis at a State of the State”. Officials are investigating the spike in MI of Legionnaires’ disease-a form of bacterial pneumonia typically spread through water-but they have not yet confirmed that these cases are directly connected to the contaminated water in Flint. In October, after state health officials confirmed elevated levels of lead in the bloodstreams of Flint children, the city was switched back to Detroit’s Lake Huron water system.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS [I-VT]: A man who acts that irresponsibly should not stay in power.

Frustration over Flint’s tainted water supply is spilling over.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schette, noted that the foul water in Flint “is a human tragedy in which families are struggling even with the most basic parts of daily life”. “Gov. Snyder should resign”, said Sanders in a statement on his website.