Marco Rubio told reporters Thursday that he had been briefed on the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, before calling for accountability and solutions.
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And even the 8,657 Flint children younger than six exposed to lead may be a low estimate; It doesn’t include unborn children whose mothers drank tainted water during their pregnancies, or children and pregnant women who reside outside Flint but were exposed while visiting relatives, childcare centers or hospitals inside city limits.
– To some people, the water problems echo the lackluster federal response to New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Flint’s drinking water became contaminated with lead in April 2014 while the city was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager.
Hedman offered her resignation effective February 1 and Gina McCarthy, who heads the agency, accepted it, the EPA said in a statement. The city’s water source had been changed from Detroit’s water system to the Flint River in a cost-cutting move and the water was not properly treated to keep lead from leaching into the supply.
The agency stressed the importance of “restoring public confidence that the ongoing drinking water crisis in Flint will be promptly and fully remedied”. It says Hedman and others in the regional EPA office voiced concern to state and city officials over the next few months.
“The details being discussed surrounding a hearing on the Flint water crisis are entirely premature”, a spokesperson for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said in a statement.
The EPA said McCarthy had sent a memo to all staff members establishing a policy assessing and responding to “critical public health issues”.
The EPA also announced an emergency order requiring that the state and city “take a series of immediate steps to address the drinking water contamination in Flint”.
Susan Hedman’s resignation is linked to the drinking water crisis in Flint, with the announcement coming down Thursday afternoon. “While the state of MI must take the lead in making things right for Flint families, I am committed to continuing to do everything I can to make sure the maximum amount of federal help is available as quickly as possible”, Stabenow, a Democrat, said.
We are treating children with high lead levels, including diagnostic testing, individual nurse visits, nutritional counseling and environmental assessments.
In a September 25 email, Muchmore said he could not “figure out why the state is responsible” before noting that former state Treasurer Andy Dillon had signed off on the city’s plans to build a water pipeline from Lake Huron, which required a temporary switch to the Flint River during construction.
Obama met earlier this week with Flint Mayor Karen Weaver.
Officials said they “cannot conclude” the increase in Legionnaires’ cases was related to the water emergency in Flint, though independent researchers told NBC News there likely is a connection.
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In a report released Thursday, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said that between June 2014 and November 2015, there were 86 cases of Legionnaires’ and one case of the milder Pontiac fever in Genesee County.
