The governor of MI has activated the National Guard in order to hand out bottled water and filters in Flint, where a lead-poisoning crisis has forced residents to avoid the tap water.
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Guard members are expected to begin arriving as early as Wednesday.
Snyder declared a state of emergency because of Flint’s lead in water crisis last week, apologizing for the state’s role in rising lead levels in Flint water and in the blood of young children since the city changed its water source to the Flint River in April 2014. Lead is known to cause permanent mental and physical disabilities.
The state auditor general and a task force created by Snyder have faulted the Department of Environmental Quality for not requiring Flint to treat the river water for corrosion and belittling the public’s fears.
The director of that agency resigned last month.
The Snyder Administration has drawn increasing criticism over its handling of the crisis, including that state officials may have manipulated water-testing data to show the water was safe to drink when it wasn’t. “The Michigan National Guard is trained and ready to assist the citizens of Flint”.
National Guard to the rescue in Flint?
It was the state that, in September, attempted to discredit the doctor who first revealed that Flint’s children had elevated blood-lead levels, instead of working to remediate the issue.
“We plan to go every day this week, and we’ll continue until everyone has safe drinking water”, state police Lt. Dave Kaiser said in his own press conference.
Their presence will allow American Red Cross volunteers who had been staffing water resource sites to join door-to-door efforts to distribute water filters, bottled water and testing kits, Murray said.
In December the city said lead levels were still “well above” the acceptable federal level in many homes.
The confirmation of the break-in came less than a week after U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade told reporters that a federal investigation was underway to look into Flint’s water crisis. He notes that filters are being distributed for free around the city, so there’s no need to buy one from someone on the street.
The governor has apologized, there have been resignations at MEDQ and the state has helped pay for switching back to Detroit’s water system, but these moves are only the beginning.
“I am responsible for the entire state and its operations but there are many other good things going on and we’re working hard to recover from this and doing the right things for Flint”, says Snyder.
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A public museum in Flint has commissioned a traveling exhibit on the science and history of the city’s water system in response to the ongoing crisis.
