Michigan Governor: ‘I will fix’ Flint water crisis

“Government failed you – federal, state and local leaders – by breaking the trust you place in us”, Snyder continued, reports The New York Times.

People have reported suffering from rashes, hair loss and other problems since the city, under a state-appointed emergency manager, switched to water from the Flint River in April 2014 to save money, according to lawyers acting for residents.

The budget wish list includes funding for replacing corroded water pipes and fixtures in Flint, testing and treatment for children with high lead levels, a study of the city’s water infrastructure and aid for its utilities.

Snyder’s office released its official timeline of the crisis and, as Snyder outlined Monday night, it will make available to the public all of his emails regarding Flint from 2014 and 2015 on his website on Wednesday.

– An appeal of President Barack Obama’s denial of his request for a federal disaster declaration.

The ongoing crisis in Flint started after the MI city switched from the Detroit Water and Sewerage System in 2014 to drawing water from the Flint River.

Michigan’s top environmental regulator has resigned over the failure to ensure that the Flint River water was properly treated to keep lead from pipes from leaching into the water.

“We are praying for you, we are working hard for you, and we are absolutely committed to taking the right steps” to avoid a similar situation in the future, Snyder said. “We had a city in the United States of America where the population, which is poor in many ways, and majority-African American, has been drinking and bathing in lead-contaminated water”.

– $2 million to address funding needs for the Michigan National Guard’s role in providing support to the residents of Flint.

The Health and Human Services (HHS) Department, in coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will coordinate the federal response to the crisis. She also said there should be a moratorium on shutoffs.

Weaver said he will meet with Snyder while in the state to talk about the water crisis, saying Obama told her he wants Snyder held accountable to get Flint help.

Flint returned to the Detroit water system in October and Snyder declared a state of emergency in the city on January 5.

Flint residents watch Gov. Rick Snyder’s State of the State address.

“They were staring at a public health emergency, and they sat on it for over 10 months”, he said, further criticizing leaders who assured residents the water was safe when they knew it wasn’t true.

Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), a frequent critic of the Snyder administration’s handling of the crisis, called the $28 million inadequate.

When Rick Snyder became Governor of MI, he signed into law that he can overturn local election results and substitute elected mayors, city councilors and elected school boards with whomever he wants, and those appointees would answer only to the Governor (i.e. Snyder).

He plans to offer more ideas during his televised speech to the GOP-led Legislature, including more money and proposals to provide health services to kids with elevated lead levels and to prevent water shutoffs if bills go unpaid. Thousands may have been exposed to potential brain damage from lead.