In the midst of a massive outpouring of support for Flint, Michigan residents in need of clean water, one group said they were initially barred from seeking out the free bottled water and filters being handed out there.
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The suit names as defendants state Treasurer Nick A. Khouri, the five-member Flint Receivership Transition Advisory Board, Flint city administrator Natasha Henderson and the city of Flint.
Certified Medical Assistant Tamika Dukes draws a blood sample from Alaia Croom, 7, at the Eisenhower Elementary School, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016 in Flint, Mich. The students were being tested for lead after the metal was found in the city’s drinking water. Snyder said Wednesday that he could not give a date for when the city’s residents would be able to cease their dependence on bottled water.
Flint Mayor Karen Weaver says she has hired a Virginia Tech professor whose extensive testing helped bring the city’s lead-tainted water problems to light. He said the Republican governor discussed state efforts and listened to the proposals, which include creating a victims’ fund. Brooks added that Snyder’s regret for what has happened in Flint appears “genuine”.
Snyder and staff did not speak to reporters.
Flint switched from Detroit’s municipal water system while under emergency state financial management and began drawing from the Flint River in 2014 to save money, but the water was not properly treated.
Oak Harbor and the Ottawa County Regional Water Plant will test for lead and copper this year, he said, according to the EPA schedule. Nestlé Waters North America has already donated five truckloads, or more than 190,000 bottles, to Flint community organizations since October 2015.
Gov. Rick Snyder finally heeded his oft-repeated call to ask Washington for help after that city’s water turned out to be contaminated by lead.
Much of the blame for the emergency has been put on the state Department of Environmental Quality because staff told Flint water officials not to treat it for corrosion until after two six-month monitoring periods. He will be joined by Andy Arena, who led Detroit’s Federal Bureau of Investigation office from 2007 until 2012. “So, if any other celebrity wants to MATCH MY MILLION here’s the site where you can donate http://selfmadefoundation.org or pick your own.JUST MAKE SURE THE WATER ACTUALLY GETS TO THE PEOPLE WHO NEED IT”, he wrote.
State Rep. LaTanya Garrett, D-Detroit, is asking U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to open a federal investigation instead.
“I am not confident that he can serve in the best interest of the Flint citizens”, Garrett said of the attorney general.
At this point, it is not certain if the investigation would lead to criminal charges.
NAACP President and CEO Cornell Brooks drew a direct equation between Flint’s socioeconomic factors and the toxic drinking water.
A Schuette spokesman declined to comment.
After an emergency city manager switched Flint’s water supply to Flint River water in 2014, the corrosive water caused lead to leach from old pipes, and elevated lead levels were discovered in children. Attorneys general represent the state and governor in lawsuits, of which there are at least four concerning Flint’s water.
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“At a minimum, one would have to ask some pretty tough questions about whether it made sense to build new water infrastructure for a mature and declining population”, Eric Scorsone, director of the Center for Local Government, Finance and Policy at Michigan State University, said Tuesday.
