The new information, in the form of documents obtained by the government watchdog group Progress Michigan, comes as Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s office is embroiled in controversy surrounding the ongoing water crisis in Flint.
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The water came at a time when Flint announced it had flunked some drinking water standards apart from the lead contamination that has spoiled tap water and caused a crisis.
The state Department of Technology, Management and Budget sent the document in response to concerns over the water quality, installing water coolers on each occupied floor of state buildings in Flint. Lonnie Scott of Progress Michigan says the emails show the Snyder Administration was taking care of employees while Flint residents were being told to not worry about tap water.
MI lawmakers directed another $28 million on Thursday to address Flint’s lead-contaminated water supply, allocating money for bottled water, medical assessments and other costs for the financially struggling city.
The water was tested by officials before it got to a filter, and she stressed that the results do not mean officials think there’s a problem with the filters.
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.
In turn, NBC News reporter Stephanie Gosk pressed the embattled governor on how his decision to continue using the pipes that poisoned the water supply would affect his relationship with Flint’s residents, who do not trust him.
The committee released a list of witnesses Friday that includes Joel Beauvais, the acting deputy assistant administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Water; Keith Creagh, the director of Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality; and Darnell Early, a former emergency manager for the city of Flint. The Republican governor said the funding will provide immediate resources in Flint, but is not the end of state assistance.
Murray said he didn’t know if workers promoted that it was available, but no signs prohibited the public from drinking water from the cooler. But the committee said it would not grant Lawrence’s request to invite Snyder to testify. There are also funds to hire outside experts to figure out whether Flint’s water infrastructure needs to be completely replaced. Problems began to arise after the city switched its water source from the Detroit system to the Flint River as a cost-saving measure in April 2014.
“A lot of work is being done to even understand where the lead services lines fully are”, Snyder said, according to Fox News.
Meanwhile, the two Democratic senators from MI will have an uphill battle to secure $600 million from Congress to replace contaminated pipes and treat Flint residents who were exposed to lead poisoning. The water was not properly treated to keep lead from pipes from leaching into the supply.
In recent days, teacher sick-outs over low pay, mold and rat infestation, freezing classrooms, classroom overcrowding and other unsafe conditions have led to the closing of dozens of schools in the Detroit public school system.
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Snyder, himself a Republican, said Friday that it would be irresponsible not to act.
