In October, after state health officials confirmed elevated levels of lead in the bloodstreams of Flint children, the city was switched back to Detroit’s Lake Huron water system.
Advertisement
Snyder declared a state of emergency in Flint earlier this month.
Members of Michigan’s National Guard have been called in to assist volunteers in passing out drinking water, testing kits, filters and other supplies to city residents, and the state said extra guard members arrived Monday to bring the total to 70.
Soldiers from the Michigan National Guard seen passing out bottled water (left) in Flint, where contaminated water has spurred a public health crisis.
The water was later found to contain lead, and as a result thousands of Flint residents have since been exposed to the toxic chemical, many of whom are children.
In April 2014, the state made a decision to temporarily switch Flint’s water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River as a cost-saving measure until a new supply line to Lake Huron was ready. “We’re still going to have the lead, we’re still going to have the pipes, we’re still going to have the poison”. Snyder apologized in December and Michigan’s top environmental regulator, Dan Wyant, resigned after a task force created by Snyder blamed problems on his agency.
Michelle Fleury reports on how the city’s 100,000 residents are faring.
“We believe the primary responsibility for what happened in Flint rests with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ)”, the state task force wrote to Snyder in December. On Saturday, President Barack Obama signed an emergency declaration but denied Snyder’s request for a disaster declaration based on the legal requirement that such relief is intended for natural events, fires, floods or explosions.
The White House also said the Federal Emergency Management Agency will coordinate all disaster relief efforts to “alleviate the hardship and suffering” on residents.
Amid calls for his resignation, stunning vitriol directed at him through social media and protests planned outside his Ann Arbor home Monday and in front of the Capitol today, Snyder will deliver one of the most closely watched State of the State addresses in MI history.
Flint can get up to $5 million in direct funding, though the state must match 25 percent and more money can come through an act of Congress.
Meanwhile, the question of what Snyder knew about Flint and when continues to dog the governor’s office, and the Free Press’ editorial board made a compelling case over the weekend that Snyder should release internal communications related to the scandal.
Advertisement
Since the contamination, blame has been pointed in the direction of government officials for allegedly not acting fast enough upon contamination discovering and after hearing public complaints.
