Edwards said city and state officials failed to implement proper corrosion control when it began taking untreated water from the Flint River, causing lead from aged pipes to seep into the water.
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Snyder on Tuesday night activated the National Guard to help distribute bottled water and filters to residents. Former DEQ Director Dan Wyant resigned last month.
“This is hard for me because the governor has a lot of culpability in this entire problem”, Overton said.
“I have a degree of responsibility”, Snyder said in a news conference Tuesday. Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Michigan, said the effects of the crisis could show up decades later.
“In terms of a mistake, we found there are probably things that weren’t as fully understood when that switch was made”, Snyder told reporters, according to MLive.
The governor has apologized, there have been resignations at MEDQ and the state has helped pay for switching back to Detroit’s water system, but these moves are only the beginning.
Chief James Tolbert says in a statement that police have received reports of people selling water filters.
The United Way of Genesee County is taking donations to pay for bottled water, filters and prevention efforts. Now, residents of nearby Flint, Mich., are dealing with contaminated water.
“The office that was broken into is where some water files are kept”, Flint Mayor Karen Weaver said. FEMA appointed a disaster recovery coordinator to help the state, spokesman Rafael Lemaitre said.
“As we work to ensure that all Flint residents have access to clean and safe drinking water, we are providing them with the direct assistance they need in order to stretch our resources further”, the governor said in the statement. Then, in January 2015, Flint violated the U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act because its water contained high levels of total trihalomethanes or THM, byproducts of the water treatment process that, over time, can increase the risk of cancer and cause health problems of the liver, kidneys and central nervous system.
What happened to Flint’s water supply? “People have complained about the color and the odor, and faucet filters will help with those challenges, as well as improving water quality overall”.
It was the state that, in September, attempted to discredit the doctor who first revealed that Flint’s children had elevated blood-lead levels, instead of working to remediate the issue.
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“During the course of the week or early next week we hopefully will be coming out with more public action steps”, some of which are already under way, and others to be implemented, Snyder said.
