Federal officials warned Flint residents Friday that water samples from more than two dozen locations have higher lead levels than can be treated by filters that have been widely distributed to deal with the city’s contamination crisis, underscoring the need for all residents to have their water tested.
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Some portions of the city’s water system could be given an all-clear on a rolling basis before mid-April, the Detroit Free Press newspaper reported, citing other state officials.
State Department of Environmental Quality chief Keith Creagh says he has met with an official from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as part of interagency cooperation addressing the lead-tainted water crisis in Flint.
Corrosive water also caused lead to leach from pipes and fixtures, and the number of children with elevated blood lead levels in the city more than doubled while the river was in use, according to a Flint pediatrician’s study released in September. Some children’s blood has tested positive for lead, which has been linked to learning disabilities, lower IQ and behavioral problems. “I’m so proud of our communities working together and it has made a huge difference”, Mayor McDonald said. “The 2014-2015 emails were selected because the time period covers the years when people started raising issues about the color and odor of the water after the switch, and reveal what the governor was being told by staff members and state departments”. This marked a shift from their dependence on Detroit’s city water to an independent partnership with the KWA municipal corporation.
Gov. Rick Snyder has sent a letter to state employees, telling them what happened in Flint must never happen again.
Last week, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette named a special prosecutor and investigator to look into possible crimes related to the crisis at the state level.
The Flint water crisis can be traced back to Obama’s adamant denial of federal aid to cash-strapped state and local governments, whose budget deficits had ballooned in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
As Moore so eloquently put it last night, the goal is not for the residents of Flint to be living on donated bottled water a year from now.
Lead researcher Michele Prevost says that while newer communities may not feature lead anywhere in their water infrastructure, cities built before 1950 often have thousands of homes that still rely on lead service lines. Flint is now living on bottled water, which doesn’t come cheap, and the longer medical treatment is delayed, the more costly it will ultimately become.
New reports also refute Snyder’s claims regarding when he was aware of the city’s water problem.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality is proposing a five-part strategy as part of an effort to determine whether Flint’s water is safe to drink.
Rev. Ira Acree said it breaks his heart youngsters in Flint could have been poisoned by lead in their drinking water.
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“Lead is particularly unsafe to children because their growing bodies absorb more lead than adults do and their brains and nervous systems are more sensitive to the damaging effects of lead”, the EPA warned on its site.
