And on Sunday night, top state officials convened in Flint not only to discuss the lead pipes in the city’s water system, but also to come up with programs to strengthen the ailing city’s economy, law enforcement, and overall management, according to a separate report by the Free Press.
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Michigan’s governor on Thursday extended a state of emergency in Flint until April 14 to help the cash-strapped city recover from the lead contamination crisis which began after it switched water sources in 2014 to try to save money.
In an interview Sunday afternoon, DEQ Director Keith Creagh said his department will outline the plan to federal EPA officials today, including department-led sampling at 200 representative sites starting next week.
The corrosive river water leached lead from water service pipes as it traveled into Flint households, causing high levels of lead to pollute their water. What followed was a tumult of health problems for local citizens and subsequent cover-ups by city and state officials.
Hedman had played down a memo by an EPA employee that said tests showed high levels of lead in the city’s water, telling Flint and MI administrators it was only a draft report.
“Our hearts are heavy, and we’re hoping not only to take the water, but to lend our voices as advocates for this community” Rev. Marshall Hatch said. And customers in communities who sell or lease their water systems pay more than residents who live in communities with publicly owned utilities.
Michigan’s Republican governor, Rick Snyder, has not been invited by the Republican-led House committee to testify on Wednesday, but will most certainly be a target of the FBI’s criminal investigation.
Paul Haan of Healthy Homes Coalition of West Michigan, a group created to help ensure wellness in harmful housing conditions, said children are often the victims of cities’ mistakes. Flint has since switched back to Lake Huron water provided by Detroit, but officials fear damaged pipes could still be leaching lead into water. Amid accusations of a cover up and growing calls for his resignation, Snyder said in his State of the State address “Government failed you at the federal, state and local level'”.
BUFFALO, N.Y.- True Bethel Baptist Church pastor and Buffalo Common Council president Darius Pridgen is planning another trip to Flint, Michigan to deliver more bottled water to residents.
Michigan National Guard Staff Sergeant William Phillips assists a Flint resident with bottled water at a fire station in Flint, Michigan in this file photo from January 13, 2016.
The city has also been upgrading its aging water infrastructure by replacing lead services up to residential property lines as they are encountered, the engineering department says.
The federal rule dates to 1991, when the Environmental Protection Agency limited the amount of lead in drinking water. But others have anxious about the impact of chlorine on residents’ health.
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“It’s so we can actually start making some informed decisions”, Creagh said. “The water doesn’t last long”, said Lilly who gave no limit to those driving through.
