Abnormally high levels of lead were discovered in the city’s drinking water after an emergency manager, appointed by the state government, switched Flint’s water from Detroit’s supply to the Flint river, leading to extra corrosion in the old lead service lines that carry the city’s water. “The system let (the people of Flint) down at every level”.
Advertisement
On Wednesday, the Republican governor laid out a $360 million plan to address Michigan’s water infrastructure needs as part of his annual budget presentation to the state legislature, with $195 million being reserved for Flint in particular.
“We have an entire population potentially exposed to one of the most well known neurotoxins to man. We have a population traumatized”, Hanna-Attisha said.
Officials are working to ensure blind residents of Flint have access to all needed information and resources related to the city’s crisis with lead-tainted water. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s budget includes nearly $200 million dedicated to Flint next year. Snyder’s funding request included $25 million for Flint infrastructure, which the mayor’s office described as “an important first step” in beginning the pipe replacement.
Angered that MI officials have declined to testify before his committee about Flint’s water crisis, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings on Thursday instead took his argument to them.
But over the ensuing months, the city’s residents complained about the odd, brownish color of the water and its taste. Lead exposure can cause a host of health issues, most notably brain damage and behavioral problems in people exposed as young children.
Snyder, a former accountant who has been keen to fatten the state’s savings account, called for shifting $165 million he had planned for the rainy day fund to a new Michigan Infrastructure Fund. A commission he announced in his recent State of the State address would recommend how to prioritize the money.
But his efforts have not been enough to stave off criticism.
Many people in Flint compare the situation to the notorious Tuskegee experiments, when the government lied to black men with syphilis for decades, watching them suffer without offering a cure.
“The poisoning of Flint’s water-and the delayed response to that poisoning-is a classic example of the disproportionate burden of environmental harm being borne by low-income persons and communities of color”, said Cornell William Brooks, President and CEO. MLive reports that about a week after the news conference, MDEQ officials met with Henry and then-drinking water chief Liane Shekter Smith; two days later Henry emailed county Health Officer Mark Valacak to recap what was discussed.
The team investigating the crisis for Michigan’s attorney general says that criminal charges could be filed, including involuntary manslaughter.
“We’re going to get rid of these lead pipes one house at a time, one street at a time, one neighborhood at a time, until they’re all gone”, Weaver said in a statement Tuesday.
Advertisement
State and local officials have also turned to Congress for support, but on Wednesday, negotiations in the Senate over a measure that would have provided federal emergency aid to the state appeared to fall apart as lawmakers failed to reach agreement on how to pay for it.
