The lawsuit centers on allegations by Flint residents that the city and state endangered their health by exposing them to unsafe lead levels in their tap water after switching their supply past year in a move to save money.
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The 274 pages cover 2014 and 2015, including an 18-month period during which the city switched its water source to the Flint River while under state financial management until it reconnected to Detroit’s system because of lead contamination blamed on state regulatory failures.
Reasons for lead poisoning in the MI water crisis result from water pipes, paint, and construction material in older homes.
The EPA says the now approved filters only filter lead up to 150 parts per billion, but the highest reading of lead measured from the 3900 samples was 4000 per billion.
Flint, which is about 60 miles (100 km) northwest of Detroit, returned to using that city’s water in October after tests found elevated levels of lead in the water and in the blood of some children.
Meanwhile, Senate is attempting to get Flint much closer to its goals; U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, from MI, along with Congress Rep. Dan Kilbee, proposed legislation to send up to $400 million in federal funding to specifically address the Flint water system, plus an additional $200 million earmarked to address lead exposure issues in the population.
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is under fire for his administration’s role.
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. The Republican governor said the funding will provide immediate resources in Flint, but is not the end of state assistance. He says his understanding is that the use of bottled water at the state building in Flint was because of warnings by the Flint officials that were issued at the time.
Meanwhile, the city’s water crisis continues to garner attention outside MI, especially among celebrities.
The harsh river water damaged aging pipes and leeched lead into the city’s drinking water supply.
Flint’s water troubles, in a sense, began with its economic woes that prompted the state to take budgetary control in 2011.
When the story broke that the residents of Flint, Michigan were being poisoned with lead in their water, protests broke out across the state. He said he was planning to fill six semi-trucks with water and drive to Flint Saturday afternoon.
We know that this switch was a historic moment only for the incredible failings of local, state and federal agencies involved. Who would listen? The blatant disregard of community concerns about the water supports the emerging narrative of the Flint water crisis as an incident of environmental racism.
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The aid given to Flint has been deemed as unsatisfactory by many, drawing criticism upon Snyder for not caring or not taking the situation seriously enough.
