Environmental regulators estimate lead should stop leaching from the city’s damaged pipes by May 1, but there is still no word on when all Flint residents will be able to safely drink the water without filters.
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State, local and federal officials have been working to investigate rashes.
Then only a few days later, a task force that he appointed put the blame on his office, his appointees and two state agencies for Flint’s lead tainted water.
Over time, the public not only learned about the lead in the water, but about the state and government’s knowledge – for months – of the problem.
“‘Neither the governor nor the governor’s office took steps to reverse poor decisions by MDEQ and state-appointed emergency managers until October 2015, in spite of mounting problems and suggestions to do so by senior staff members in the governor’s office, in part because of continued reassurances from MDEQ that the water was safe, ‘ the report reads”.
FEMA called this is the final extension of the emergency declaration that it will grant for Flint, according to Snyder.
Next week, in an effort to further inform the skin rash investigation, EPA will expand its current water sampling program in Flint homes and other points in the distribution system for disinfection byproducts, including trihalomethanes (THM) and additional organic compounds.
Elevated lead levels have been found in at least 325 people, including 221 children.
On Wednesday, the task force primarily blamed state government, including the governor’s office for Flint’s water crisis.
“It was a mixture of ignorance, incompetence and arrogance by many decision makers that created a toxic and tragic situation that produced the Flint water crisis”. “Primary responsibility for the water contamination in Flint lies with MDEQ”.
But as all this occurs, Flint residents still want to know when they can again safely drink unfiltered water from their faucets.
City officials failed to follow the regulations of the Lead and Copper Rule on multiple levels, including in the water system’s lack of corrosion control, the report said. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and CDC public health specialists have been contacting residents to learn more about their skin rash conditions and evaluate medical information. “We are taking dozens of actions to change how we operate – not just to hold ourselves accountable, but to completely change state government’s accountability to the people we serve”. And emergency managers long ignored residents’ complaints about their tap water.
“It was disregarded, however, because of cost considerations and repeated assurances that the water was safe”, the report said.
Sygo told the Free Press on Thursday that Fortune is an old friend who he worked with at a previous planning job and was pulling his chain about the Flint water troubles.
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Pastor Alfred Harris of Saints of God Church in Flint said morale among residents is low.
