Snyder has requested support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in coordinating a recovery plan with other federal agencies that have the programs, authorities or technical expertise to help with Flint’s water crisis. He has previously apologized for regulatory failures and for an underwhelming initial response and on Tuesday outlined a timeline of the “catastrophe” dating to 2013, and blamed it on failures at the federal, state and local level.
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The Health and Human Services Department announced it would lead the federal government’s emergency response to the Flint crisis.
The city of Flint, Mich., has been suffering from a water contamination crisis for over a year, and after the deaths of several due to possible connections to the lead in the water, the residents are now not only raising health concerns, but calling for the arrest of Michigan’s governor, Rick Snyder.
Governor Rick Snyder says he’s releasing emails linked to the Flint water crisis on Wednesday, so the entire state can see what happened over the past 18 months leading the city to this point.
State and federal disasters have been declared in Flint and the National Guard is distributing water.
Snyder promised to release Flint-related emails from 2014 and 2015.
Mike Ahrens of Muskegon poses for photo with his sign about Flint’s water crisis in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday at a campaign stop in Center Barnstead, New Hampshire, Cruz says the children of the city “have been poisoned by government officials” through “negligence” and “ineptitude”.
Even after the city switched back to the Detroit water, the corrosive river water had caused irreparable damage to the old pipes, which continue to introduce contaminants into the city’s water.
House Democratic Leader Tim Greimel said MI law should be changed so the Freedom of Information Act to applies to “the governor and everybody in the executive branch, as well as to all legislators”. Flint returned to Detroit water in October 2015, but many residents are relying on bottled water.
GOP Gov. Rick Snyder is expected to devote much of Tuesday night’s State of the State address to the emergency. He also said this would not be the last time he asks for money from the budget.
Snyder’s overall plan for Flint can’t be judged until the 2017 budget plan comes out in a few weeks. Monies would go toward recovery efforts including further water testing and testing of residents, both adults and children, for elevated lead levels. Because the state failed to require the use of corrosion controls, lead leached into the water from pipes and fixtures.
FOX 2: “Given how this was handled initially, do you trust Gov. Snyder to do everything that he can and what’s necessary to fix this problem?”
Lead found in the city’s water supply has led to cases of Legionnaires’ disease, according to experts, who fear more long-term health issues will arise.
To overcome the challenge, the Governor has asked the legislature for an additional $28 million in funding, and asked Michiganders to keep the people of Flint in their prayers. Weaver met earlier with White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and Obama’s Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Jerry Abramson.
But he also highlighted the critical importance of finding a financial fix for Detroit Public Schools, while also highlighting the improved financial prospects of the City of Detroit, after emerging from a Chapter 9 bankruptcy initiated and largely managed by the state.
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The 2014 decision to switch Flint’s water source to the Flint River was made by an emergency manager.
