In November, residents filed a law suit against Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, the city of Flint, the State of Michigan and other federal officials who are held responsible for the water crisis. They named Gov. Rick Snyder, the state of MI, the city of Flint, former Flint emergency financial manager Darnell Earley (who is the current emergency manager for Detroit Public Schools), Howard Croft and “all others similarly situated” as defendants.
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The assistance package could include funding for temporary housing, home repairs, and other needs.
Snyder requested the president declare a federal emergency on Thursday after almost exhausting all efforts to prevent residents from cooking, drinking, and bathing using the lead-filled water.
The governor sent two requests Thursday night to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which this week has been distributing its own surplus supplies of bottled water, saying that the crisis was beyond the state’s ability to manage.
Flint’s tap water became contaminated with too much lead after the city switched its water supply in 2014 while a new pipeline was under construction. The most common cause of lead poisoning and exposure are from lead-based paints in older homes, household dust, lead crystal, contaminated soil and drinking water.
On Friday, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said he would investigate whether any laws were violated in the crisis. More than 80 people have contracted the bacterial pneumonia infection since the water crisis began.
MI health officials are investigating whether outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease in the area are connected to the lead levels. It turned out the river water was highly corrosive – 19 times more corrosive than the water in Lake Huron, Virginia Tech researchers discovered. The state has says it has identified 43 people suffering from elevated levels of lead, which poisons the nervous system and stunts brain development in children.
The announcement comes 10 days after Snyder declared a state of emergency on January 5. Filmmaker and Flint native Michael Moore has also publicly called for Snyder’s arrest.
Earnest said the federal government has already taken a number of steps to help with the situation, including providing bottled water and deploying FEMA personnel to Flint to serve as liaisons between local and federal officials. Water bottles and filters have been dispersed throughout the city ever since the discovery of the corroded water pipes this fall, The Los Angeles Times reports. “The costs add up quickly and the state simply can’t absorb them all”, said Snyder spokesman Meegan Holland.
“As a husband and father I greatly empathize with the fears of Flint parents and family members, who are rightly concerned for their health”, Schuette said in a statement today. When Michigan officials switched water sources for the city in a cost-cutting move, lead entered the supply.
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Pressure has been building on Snyder over his handling of the situation.
