Obama spoke the same day that a regional director of the Environmental Protection Agency resigned in connection with the drinking water crisis in Flint. The 33-year-old felt compelled to act after seeing the reports of Flint’s contaminated water supply.
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The U.S. environmental agency said its oversight was hampered “by failures and resistance at the state and local levels to work with us in a forthright, transparent and proactive manner”.
The agency said Hedman’s resignation was accepted “given Susan’s strong interest in ensuring that EPA Region 5’s focus remains exclusively on the restoration of Flint’s drinking water”, suggesting her position could be a distraction.
Dennis Muchmore, Snyder’s former chief of staff (he retired on Tuesday), writes in an e-mail to the governor dated September 25, 2015 that Flint residents were turning the issue of children’s exposure to lead into “a political football”, and that “the real responsibility rests with the county, city and KWA”, an area water authority.
Flint did not return to the Lake Huron water supply until October, 2015, after tests showed elevated levels of lead in Flint tap water and in some children. “The water that’s coming out of the pipes is still poison to drink”, said Kelso, 52, who is using her tap water only to flush her toilet.
President Obama also sharply criticized MI officials for failing to respond more quickly to the crisis, saying that “our children should not have to be anxious about the water they’re drinking in American cities”.
The Governor outlined the immediate actions that were taken in response to the water crisis, including distribution of bottled water to affected residents, water testing kits, water filters and water filter replacements.
“We’ve said since day one everyone at every level needs to be held accountable for whatever role they had in this crisis”. But it will be making recommendations to state and federal officials in an effort to access public disaster funds, and has set up a foundation, flintkids.com, that is accepting private donations.
“Our voices were not heard, and that’s part of the problem”, Flint Mayor Karen Weaver said this week at the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington, D.C., where she also met with President Barack Obama to make her case for federal help for her city. The Free Press reports $80 million will arrive next week to help rebuild water lines and other infrastructure. That water got so toxic that you could clean brass with it. Instead, they could afford to bring in water from Detroit – 70 miles away.
The funding will arrive to the state by the end of the week, according to Obama. Some children’s blood has tested positive for lead, a potent neurotoxin linked to learning disabilities, lower IQ and behavioral problems. It wasn’t immediately clear how much would go to Flint.
Republican Governor Rick Snyder took away the power of the city’s elected officials and gave it all to an emergency financial manager.
Ballenger, who previously served as a member of the Michigan House of Representatives and the Michigan Senate, was born and raised in Flint, CNN affiliate WWJ reported.
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Del Toral said he can not estimate when Flint water will be safe to drink again without a lead-clearing filter.
