Obama Declares Emergency In Poison-Water City

The American singer and actress Cher has reportedly donated 180,000 bottles of water to the city of Flint, Michigan, as they struggle to cope with a drinking water crisis.

Thomson ReutersMichigan Governor Rick Snyder gives an interview on the floor of the New York Stock ExchangeDETROIT (Reuters) – Michigan Governor Rick Snyder said he asked President Barack Obama to declare both an emergency and an expedited major disaster in the county where the city of Flint has been dealing with the fallout from lead-contaminated drinking water.

At 3 p.m. on Saturday, the FEMA’s public affairs director tweeted that Obama’s declaration will allow FEMA to offer the families water, water filters, water test kits and “other necessary items”. “I can not wait for the water to get there to help these people who have been poisoned because the water they’ve been getting out of their taps has been polluted for so long and remains that way without the state or federal government stepping in with any substantial plan to resolve this problem”.

On Thursday, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder submitted a request to the president to call a state of emergency.

Typically, federal aid for a state of emergency is capped at $5 million, though the president can commit more with approval from Congress. But local and state officials failed to use corrosion controls – chemicals added to the water to help prevent lead from leaching in.

FEMA said emergency protective measures, limited to direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding. But officials remain concerned that old pipes could continue to leach lead, to which exposure can cause behavior problems and learning disabilities in children as well as kidney ailments in adults.

The action is being taken to “lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in Genesee County”, it said.

But after the switch, residents complained the water looked, smelled and tasted amusing.

Snyder’s application said as much as $55 million is needed in the near term to fix damaged lead service lines and as much as $41 million to pay for several months of water distribution and providing residents with testing, water filters and cartridges.

Also Friday, Michigan’s top prosecutor, Attorney General Bill Schuette, announced an investigation to determine if any laws were broken in the months following the switch in water source. The U.S. Justice Department is also investigating.