He says he will also release his emails from 2014 and 2015 regarding the crisis.
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With a quivering voice and stumbling over his words at times, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder apologized repeatedly during his State of the State speech on Tuesday evening for the moves that exposed Flint residents to toxic levels of lead in their drinking water.
He also announced the deployment of more National Guard members to Flint and said he would appeal President Barack Obama’s denial of a federal disaster declaration for the area.
In the speech, Snyder promised to release his e-mails related to the Flint water crisis to show what his administration did right, and to help the public understand how things went wrong.
“For those who think $28 million will begin to remedy the Flint water crisis, that is a fraction of the money city residents have paid for poisoned water that they can not drink”, Kildee said in a Tuesday statement.
Weaver spoke to the media Tuesday as part of a conference call set up by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
“All we did was help to coordinate it, and then it really took on a life of its own”, said Lonnie Scott, of Progress Michigan.
Flint, which had long struggled economically, stopped buying water from Detroit in 2014 and switched to using water from the Flint River while a new water system was being built.
The full extent of damage to Flint’s water infrastructure still remains unclear.
Corrosive water in the River Flint caused more lead to leach from Flint pipes than Detroit water did.
LANSING, Mich. (AP) Only a year ago, Rick Snyder began his second term as MI governor promoting the same achievements that had propelled him to victory in 2014: The state was at last in the midst of an economic comeback, and Detroit had emerged from bankruptcy. Elevated blood-lead levels were found in two city zip codes.
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette launched an investigation into the water crisis on Friday. While Flint’s water crisis dominated the speech, Snyder noted that the most pressing education issue in 2016 is restructuring the Detroit Public School system and trying to make it financially solvent in the future.
GOP Gov. Rick Snyder is expected to devote much of Tuesday night’s State of the State address to the emergency.
Snyder, a Republican, asked lawmakers to authorize $28 million in spending on diagnostic tests, health treatment for children and adolescents, replacement of old fixtures in Flint schools and day care centers and a study of the city’s water pipes.
Exposure to lead can cause behavior problems and learning disabilities in children and kidney ailments in adults. Ms Weaver met earlier with White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and Obama’s Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Jerry Abramson.
This Flint democrat believes the governor has lost the trust of local residents.
“On the federal level, I will continue working with the administration and my colleagues in Congress to leverage available resources from various federal agencies”, he said. President Obama has declared a federal emergency in Flint, opening the door to funding from the government and staffing support for residents.
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The White House said the officials assured Weaver that the federal government would be a “constructive partner” in the city’s response and recovery.
