If you made me choose, I’d say what Snyder did was worse. “We don’t want people to assume anything is good until we have a chance to do extensive testing and (announce results) publicly”.
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“They’re not ideological warriors, they’re technocrats who we thought, at a minimum, were the competent guys”, Todd said.
The Flint water crisis began in April 2014 after the city switched sources for its water supply to save money.
“We’ve been clear to communicate that”, he said.
City resident Colette Metcalf said protesters were upset that Snyder officials refused to allow any community members into the news conference.
Since October, more than 12,000 filters have been distributed, more than 2,000 blood tests have been done and more than 700 water tests have been conducted, Snyder said. Snyder’s emergency declaration sets the stage for seeking federal assistance and can be renewed beyond its February 1 expiration if the state cannot stop the lead contamination. Though Flint River water was cheaper, it also proved to be much more corrosive, and as it coursed through the town’s poorly maintained pipelines, it leeched trace metals and other risky substances from the surrounding environment, leaving the tap water foul-smelling, strangely colored, and filled with lead. The e-mail, sent to Department of Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon, was among a large number of e-mails and other records obtained under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act by Virginia Tech researcher Marc Edwards, a drinking water expert who helped expose the crisis. The statement urged residents to only use filter water for drinking supplies and food preparation.
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The city returned to Detroit water last October. (Sara Wurfel stepped down to take a private-sector job in November 2015.) Brad Wurfel said in July 2015 that “anyone who is concerned about lead in the drinking water in Flint can relax”. In late December, he accepted the resignation of the state official whose agency, the Department of Environmental Quality, oversees water quality. But in order to make Flint River water safe for people, it has to receive a special anti-corrosion treatment. Local residents are also moving forward with a class-action lawsuit over the crisis, and the U.S. Attorney’s office in MI has confirmed it is investigating the matter to determine if any laws were broken.
