President signs emergency declaration for Flint, Michigan water crisis

Jan 17, 2016- US President Barack Obama has declared a state of emergency in Flint, Michigan, where the water has become contaminated with lead.

DHS and FEMA will coordinate efforts to ameliorate “the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population”, the White House said. “Together with Cher, we also hope to raise awareness to help get the families of Flint the assistance they need during this hard time“. The new supply, from the Flint River, was saltier and flowed through corroded pipes, pulling lead into the system.

Additionally, Flint residents were dealt another blow on Wednesday when Governor Snyder announced there had been a surge in the number of cases of legionnaires disease in Flint over the past year, possibly linked to the tainted water in Flint.

The order authorized FEMA to provide water, filters, filter cartridges and other needed items to citizens, FEMA spokesman Rafael Lemaitre tweeted.

Protesters calling for Governor Snyder’s resignation and urging president Obama to visit Flint when he is in Detroit for next week’s auto show.

Typically, federal aid for an emergency is capped at $5 million, though the president can commit more if he reports it to Congress.

The situation dates back to April 2014 when Flint switched water sources to save money.

In addition, a Virginia Tech investigation into the man-made disaster found that state officials had not only rejected or ignored valid complaints, but lied and concealed evidence regarding water test results.

Flint’s 100,000 residents have not had access to safe drinking water since 2014, when officials started drawing water from the Flint River as a temporary cost-cutting measure while a pipeline was built from Lake Huron.

Moore also asked the USA attorney general to arrest and prosecute Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, because he “knew that toxins, pollutants, and eventually lead was leaching into the water and being sent into the taps of people’s homes”. That summer, several boil-water advisories were issued.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency is investigating why an anti-corrosive agent wasn’t used, as the lawsuit contends. However, the water was not treated properly, which led to metal being corroded in the water pipes contaminating the water.