State workers in Flint got water coolers before water crisis was acknowledged

For the past year – even as Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s administration knew the Flint water was poisoned but assured residents it was safe to drink until this past fall – the state government was supplying its employees in Flint with clean water.

A notice by the state’s Department of Technology, Management, and Budget talked about giving a water cooler to each floor, near a water fountain, so workers can choose. “Governor Snyder needs to explain to the people of Flint why his administration trucked water into a state building while allowing residents to drink unsafe water”.

Dr. Nicole Lurie of the Department of Health and Human Services said the lead level in some Flint locations has exceeded 150 parts per billion, which is the level for which water filters are graded.

Fresh bottled water was placed in a state building in Flint beginning a year ago, as concerns about the city’s water quality were rising but before lead was discovered. The emergency spending bill includes money for more bottled water and filters and services to monitor for developmental delays in young children.

The city of Flint sent out a notice on Friday warning that some homes outside of the city limits may have been using Flint water contaminated by lead. “Let’s stand up together as Michiganders to say mistakes were made, problems happened, we’re going to solve them, we’re going to fix them, and we’re going to (be) stronger”.

The filmmaker then suggested that MI governor Rick Snyder should be removed from office and put in jail for his “corruption and incompetence”.

He wrote that the resignation of Susan Hedman as the top EPA official for the Great Lakes region “raises serious questions about EPA’s response to the Flint crisis”. Senate Democrats proposed that amount in emergency federal aid to Flint, with a requirement that the state match the spending on Flint pipes, dollar for dollar.

“It’s a lot of work to take out pipes, to redo all of the infrastructure, that’s a whole planning process”, Snyder said.

“We’ve got to take action where we can and recognize the nature of the problem”, Casey said.

There are more than 8,000 children in that city of roughly 99,000 people whose brains, impulse control and learning ability may have been permanently damaged by lead in Flint’s drinking water. As a result, toxic water from the Flint River corroded the pipes, causing lead to leech into the tap water. Another state spokesman had said earlier it was provided continuously in the building. Researchers from Virginia Tech found that the water in Flint Mich., was extremely corrosive according to CNN.

This Week columnist Shikha Dalmia noted in an op-ed Friday, Flint citizens are legally prohibited from suing the government because of doctrine of sovereign immunity, which protects governments from tort lawsuits.