Michigan governor pledges contact with every Flint household

Snyder has faced criticism both for not declaring a state of emergency earlier and for not quickly asking for federal aid.

Flint Water Study: New FOIA Shows MDEQ Still Mostly To Blame For Water Crisis and Poor Response – “What is also increasingly clear, is that these same MDEQ employees further abused their power and trust, to derail other well-intentioned attempts by state officials to intervene and protect Flint Residents”.

Flint is not the first city in the Midwest to have a drinking water crisis.

Just a few weeks later, in October, the city reverted to using Detroit’s Lake Huron water supply, but the damage was done to the lead pipes. But not until the fall of 2015, when the water was found to have elevated levels of lead that were reflected in children’s blood, did state officials swing into action.

In addition, an independent Flint Water Task Force is continuing a full review of all local, state and federal actions that led to the current situation in Flint. “We’re going to continue to step up our efforts”, he said.

Deputy State Director of Emergency Management and Homeland Security Capt. Chris Kelenske says “residents can pick-up all of the resources they need to ensure their drinking water is safe”. In late December, he accepted the resignation of the state official whose agency, the Department of Environmental Quality, oversees water quality.

Flint, Michigan – About 200 people protested on Friday, outside Flint City hall, demanding Michigan governor face criminal charges after information leaked that highest officials allegedly knew Michigan’s tap water had been contaminated for 6 months before official emergency was declared.

Rick Snyder signed an executive order establishing a committee to find solutions to Flint’s water crisis. That led to the end of representative government in a number of places, including Flint.

On Monday, the governor was in Flint to announce the formation of a joint city-state panel to examine the city’s water crisis and ways to address it. They spent a week attacking her before reversing their narrative and admitting she was right.

Thousands of children may have been exposed to lead, which could irreversibly harm their health and brain functioning. Instead of getting Lake Huron water treated by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, as the city had for years, Flint started drawing more corrosive and polluted water from the Flint River and treating it at the city water treatment plan. It could cost .5 billion to fix the problem, a staggering sum for any city, much less one already struggling as badly as Flint is.