In March, Copeny – known around the Rust Belt city as “Little Miss Flint” – sought a few minutes of Obama’s time, as she was headed to Washington DC by bus for a congressional hearing about her hometown’s two-year water crisis.
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Edwards, a Virginia Tech professor who oversaw research on the lead in Flint’s drinking water, told Zahra Huber at WWJ 950 the risky water situation has been going on ever since the city made the switch from Detroit’s water supply to Flint River water in April 2014. The corrosive water of the river caused lead, a heavy metal that can harm brain development and cause other health problems, to leach from water pipes.
Michigan Republican Party Chairman Ronna Romney McDaniel said in an interview that she hopes Obama will draw attention to the “resiliency of the people of Flint and a recognition that a lot of steps have been taken” to address the crisis.
Last week, Snyder told The News he wasn’t sure he’d have time in his “pretty busy schedule” to join the president in Flint after the newspaper confirmed Obama was planning a visit.
Despite the Environmental Protection Agency’s assessment that filtered water is safe to drink, Flint residents continue to drink only bottled water, Heaton said. Snyder noted that his budget request would create a $50 million reserve fund that could be used and said officials are still trying to determine how many pipes there are.
After arriving in Flint and greeted by Gov. Rick Snyder, Obama will head to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan to view operations and meet with federal officials to be briefed on the water crisis that drew him to the city after accepting an invitation from 8-year-old Amariyanna Copeny. The White House says FEMA has provided over 9.3 million liters of water to the city and the Department of Health and Human Services is working with local healthcare providers to test children’s blood for lead poisoning.
While Harris expects that will change in Obama’s final months in office, he doesn’t see such a message in the cards on Wednesday.
“It gives you bad rashes and headaches”, Mari said. “Detroit, now Flint. People can connect the dots on their own”. “You deserve accountability. You deserve to know that the buck stops here with me”.
When Snyder declared the city of Flint was under a state of emergency, calls for the governor to resign came quick.
The White House will not confirm that Snyder and the President will have a meeting.
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“The very low water use rates in some Flint homes hinders recovery of the system due to the improved corrosion control”, Virginia Tech researcher Siddhartha Roy wrote in a blog post last month.
