The Board of State Canvassers rejected petitions Thursday to recall the Republican governor over his handling of Flint’s water.
Advertisement
The government has continued to offer city employees purified water, Buhs said.
About two years ago, while in charge of the city’s budget amid a financial emergency, the state chose to temporarily switch Flint’s water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River to save money until a new supply line to Lake Huron was ready. Despite complaints from citizens that something was wrong with the water, most notably the smell and color, officials told citizens that the water was safe to drink. Making matters worse, the city was tasked with haggling over details laid out in its 30-year contact with its then-water supplier, Detroit Water and Sewage Department.
The House is expected to send the legislation to Gov. Rick Snyder later Thursday. The more corrosive water from the Flint River caused the city’s water pipes to leach lead into the drinking water. However, Snyder’s administration did not officially acknowledge the water was unsafe until last October, nine months after state employees in Flint were given the choice to drink from water coolers.
The water was tested by officials before it got to a filter, and she stressed that the results do not mean officials think there’s a problem with the filters. Should that not have also alerted them to look a little closer at Flint’s water quality, especially given its recent change in sourcing?
Tom Gores, a Flint native and owner of the Detroit Pistons, is pledging to raise $10 million to address the short- and long-term needs of his MI hometown, where the drinking water is contaminated with lead.
The emails say quote “the coolers will be provided as long as the public water does not meet treatment requirements”.
Activists and residents say Snyder’s administration is at fault for not acting sooner to limit Flint residents’ exposure to harmful levels of lead and other contaminants in their water.
Several committee Democrats, including Rep. Brenda Lawrence of Southfield, have criticized Snyder’s exclusion from Wednesday’s hearing.
Cummings and Lawrence asked Snyder to deliver the requested documents to them by February 11.
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician in Flint, Michigan, was exposed lead poisoning in the city. He says Flint once was a “cornerstone of American industry”, and that people “from coast to coast” need to step up. Instead, residents are stuck with toxic water and the state of MI will now have to spend tens of millions of dollars cleaning up the disaster in Flint.
The agency that manages state buildings said Thursday coolers were introduced at the building after Flint flunked some drinking water standards unrelated to lead.
Flint is under a public health emergency that has led to local, state and federal emergency declarations.
Becerra said his home state is also dealing with water contamination issues and he hopes that Republicans will join their efforts to address them.
Snyder still must sign it. That could come Friday.
The city said customers should have their water tested, and residents at locations affected by the water crisis should be using filters and bottled water.
Advertisement
The notices, however, described Flint’s water as safe to drink. And, Governor Snyder’s decision to put money ahead of safety has left people with no access to clean water, and news that just keeps adding insult to their injuries.
