A state legislative leader from Flint says the suggestion that the public also could drink from the water coolers is “insulting”. It went on to say it will continue as long as Flint water doesn’t meet treatment requirements. “That was a decision we made as the building owner” in Flint, said Caleb Buhs, a spokesman for the agency that manages state buildings. Despite complaints from citizens that something was wrong with the water, most notably the smell and color, officials told citizens that the water was safe to drink. The state told workers they could use the water cooler or drinking fountains.
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The EPA’s regional administrator, Susan Hedman, is stepping down after this week for her office’s lack of oversight of the DEQ and Flint’s water treatment. Because of that, into January, it’s still not safe enough to drink and may not be until the water infrastructure is completely overhauled. It also allows citizens to sue government officials when they suspect these rules weren’t followed.
“It appears that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, at the direction of (former DEQ Director) Dan Wyant, failed to promptly and properly respond to the Flint water crisis, and that he resigned for that reason”, Cummings and Lawrence wrote.
Flint switched its water source from Detroit to the Flint River in April 2014, which is now known to have caused lead to leach into the city’s tap water. If they’re not, no one can gather signatures to force a recall election.
“I don’t know all the details of what Rick Snyder has done”, he said, adding that he had heard that some people had been fired because of the crisis.
In addition to distributing bottled water, Adventist young people are assembling water-testing kits and adults are handing out water filters.
It’s the second round of state aid for the city since the crisis was confirmed in the fall. Meanwhile, the political money trail shows Flood has donated thousands of dollars over the years to the campaigns of Schuette and Gov. Rick Snyder, both Republicans, as well as a GOP-affiliated political action committee.
“I always try to think of the person in Flint (who) can’t use the water coming out of the tap, and what their life is like”, Snyder said. “They had to be acknowledging that there were some real issues with the water in that building in Flint”. Flints mayor has floated a shockingly high price to fix the citys lead-contamination problem, saying it could millions to replace damaged pipes.
Prysby, who had been forwarded an email from other state officials asking whether he would know more about the safety of Flint’s drinking water by March 1, forwarded the email to Stephen Busch, the district supervisor, who on January 22 of this year was suspended without pay for his role in the drinking water catastrophe.
Democratic Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow of MI were expected to offer the measure Thursday as an amendment to a Senate energy bill.
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The money was originally earmarked to begin identifying where there are lead pipes in their system.
