“Gov. Snyder and his administration’s policies led to this man-made crisis and he must testify so that the whole truth can be found”, Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), who represents Flint, said in a Thursday statement.
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ThinkProgress reports the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget issued new water coolers to state buildings in Flint due to suspicions about the water supply back in January 2015.
“But I always remind myself, I always try to think about the person in Flint that can’t use the water coming out of the tap and what their life’s like and how they’re in a worse place than I am”, he said.
Members of the Michigan National Guard load bottled water for residents at a fire station, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016 in Flint, Mich. The Michigan Legislature voted Thursday to direct another $28 million to address Flint’s water emergency, allocating money for bottled water, medical assessments and other costs in the city struggling with a lead-contaminated supply.
A lead advisory was eventually issued in late 2015 after lead was discovered in children’s blood, with residents being instructed not to drink the water.
Rick Snyder has signed into law $28 million in emergency funding to address Flint’s lead-contaminated water crisis. Problems began to arise after the city switched its water source from the Detroit system to the Flint River as a cost-saving measure in April 2014.
Just how many lead pipes are there in Flint, Michigan, where the water has been undrinkable because of high lead levels?
“People would rather give money than their time”, said Diana Bruch, director of Adventist Community Services for the church’s Lake Union Conference, whose territory includes Flint. “Do you believe that you should properly resource, invest resources in government’s ability to protect people – to make sure that their water is drinkable that their air is breathable?”
But Dave Murray, Gov. Rick Snyder’s spokesman, said in a text: “This was related to the concerns about color and odor, and weeks later the state awarded the city a $2 million grant for water infrastructure repairs”.
Instead of immediately notifying the citizens of the tainted water, the Snyder administration used taxpayer dollars to protect government officials only.
MI began offering fresh bottled water to its workers after a notice, which was also sent to city residents, stated that the tap water “had unacceptable levels of total trihalomethanes-a chlorine byproduct that can cause cancer”, according to Vox.
“It’s a lot of work to take out pipes, to redo all of the infrastructure, that’s a whole planning process”, Snyder said. Flints mayor has floated a shockingly high price to fix the citys lead-contamination problem, saying it could millions to replace damaged pipes.
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First, residents learned that their complaints about brown, abrasive, nauseating water were ignored by state officials, and that water quality tests were manipulated to show lower levels of lead and other toxins.
