Obama to meet with Flint mayor at White House

Newly revealed e-mails show when officials switched the water source from Lake Huron to the Flint river they waited almost five months to warn the public of the toxic levels of lead created by the switch.

The mayor of Flint, Mich., is in Washington, D.C., trying to get a meeting with President Obama, but she took time out on Tuesday to endorse her pick for the next occupant of the Oval Office.

Rick Snyder responded Monday to criticism from presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during the Democratic debates for his handling of Flint’s water emergency, saying Clinton is making it a political issue.

“It’s an opportunity for the president to hear from the mayor of Flint on the significant challenges that are facing that city”, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said of the president’s meeting with the mayor.

Corrosive water from the Flint River has caused lead to leach from old pipes into homes.

Bottled water, filters, replacement filters; Assistance to Flint to help with utility-related issues; Testing and replacing fixtures in schools and other high-risk locations; Treatment of children with high lead levels; Services for the treatment of potential behavioral health issues; Support for children and adolescent health centers; An infrastructure integrity study for pipes and connections.

“We’ve 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”.

Flint isn’t the only crisis Snyder is dealing with at the moment.

Last week, city officials announced that they would start sending shut-off warnings to those behind on their water bills. In his annual State of the State address on Tuesday night, Snyder is expected to outline his response plan and request emergency funding from lawmakers.

The U.S. environmental agency said its oversight was hampered “by failures and resistance at the state and local levels to work with us in a forthright, transparent and proactive manner”.

Now, officials fear that some the children in Flint who drank and bathed in this water may have permanent brain damage, among other long-term health problems.

There is little question that the state bears significant responsibility for the public health crisis. A federal lawsuit had already been filed, attorney Bill Goodman said.

— January 4: Genesee County declares local state of emergency, which activates local emergency responses. So far, the National Guard and FEMA have stepped in, giving residents water bottles, water lead kits, and filters.

They said he didn’t act swiftly enough to help Flint residents and held signs calling for his dismissal and arrest.

Gov. Snyder has insisted he did not initially know of the severity of the water situation, but Pitt said “that’s a lie and we are going to prove that’s a lie”.