A Genesee County pediatrician suggests Flint homes use water filters even after the city switches back to the Detroit water system.
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The city switched from the Detroit system to the Flint River in April 2014 but the transfer has fueled complaints of foul taste, smell and appearance of the water.
The C.S. Mott Foundation, a Flint-based nonprofit founded by auto pioneer Charles Stewart Mott, has pledged another $4 million, and the city of Flint will provide the additional $2 million from its water and sewer fund. The Senate could sign off Thursday.
A year ago, the city of more than 100,000 people began drawing its water from the Flint River instead of Lake Huron via Detroit’s water system.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has been feeling the heat not just over high levels of lead in Flint’s drinking water, but for denying there was a problem in the face of evidence. Fears were heightened in September when researchers found that many Flint children were showing higher-than-expected levels of lead in their blood.
State Representative Phil Phelps (D-Flint) says it will probably be a month before water from the tap is drinkable. He says lawmakers are moving so quickly he’s not sure where the money will come from. “It’s a public health emergency”.
State officials also said last week that three schools also tested positive for elevated lead levels, including one elementary school where a sample showed a lead level of 101 parts per billion, nearly seven times the level that requires remediation.
“This is a public health emergency and we need to get it done”, said Rep. Al Pscholka, R-Stevensville, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, said last week.
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The money will be used to switch Flint back to the Detroit water system, for testing children and water in schools, hiring more public health workers, and water filters. The DEQ was not able to say when Flint’s water will be safe to drink.
