According to a 2014 study by a Flint newspaper, Flint had the priciest water and sewer bills in Genessee County, averaging $140 a month.
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“For years the state told us we were insane, and that our water was safe, which wasn’t true”, she said. Flint city administrator Natasha Henderson, who was the former city manager of Muskegon Heights, was also appointed to the committee. However, aging pipes resulted in lead contamination, damages of which could be irreversible. Last week, the agency complained that the city and state DEQ weren’t enacting recommendations for improving city water quickly enough.
Gov. Rick Snyder is asking the federal government for additional health care services for Flint children and young adults who may have been exposed to lead-tainted water.
The efforts would supplement state programs.
Business and community leaders will announce the donation at the Walmart Supercenter in Flint.
In April 2014, the city of Flint switched its source of drinking water from Lake Huron from the Detroit Sewerage and Water Department to the Flint River. It has been shown to lower intelligence, stunt growth and lead to aggressive and anti-social behavior. They charge that Flint residents are victims of “environmental racism” – that is, race and poverty factored into how Flint wasn’t adequately protected and how its water became contaminated with lead, making the tap water undrinkable.
First Ward Councilwoman Beth Gillman asked Petersen’s opinion on the shape of the pipes carrying water to homes and if there was a threat of lead leaching into the water like in Flint.
“Obviously when you go out to do a main fix, you can’t replace 734 miles of main every time you have a water leak, so you do repairs on them”.
The embattled governor announced a series of new actions to address the water crisis, which has spawned two criminal investigations and a federal emergency declaration.
The Flint, Michigan water crisis has brought attention to lead contaminants in the water brought on by a corrosive river and old pipes. Some children’s blood has tested positive for lead, a potent neurotoxin linked to learning disabilities, lower IQ and behavioral problems. They had no enforcement abilities, but called on Detroit officials to restore water to those unable to pay. “Make them drink that poison to say the least”, Wright says. The prosecutor’s office does not have its own investigators on staff.
Schuette declined to say how much the outside investigators will be paid. He has dragged his feet far too long.
Republican Gov. Rick Snyder has apologized for regulatory failures and other things that led to Flint’s crisis.
“The residents of Flint were stripped of their democratically elected authority and, in the name of saving a few dollars, have been forced to sacrifice their health in the process”, Overton said. Flint re-commissioned a water treatment plant and treated water from the Flint River instead of purchasing more expensive water from Detroit. President Obama declared a federal emergency in the city.
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The bill would direct the EPA to notify residents and health departments if the amount of lead found in a public water system requires action, in the absence of notification by the state.
