Murphy told M-Live the campaign to unseat Gov. Snyder is already working on a website, and plans to start collecting signatures “when the weather is warmer and more Michiganders are outdoors”.
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Based on information gathered from the city of Flint, the Snyder administration now estimates 5,000 properties have lead services lines and an additional 10,000 properties have service lines of an unknown make that need to be physically inspected. Another 15,000 connect to vacant properties.
The CRS report says the EPA did not use its emergency powers to protect human health until January – nine months after officials became aware of water contamination in Flint. Kaufman’s team analyzed Flint’s handwritten records, paper maps, and scanned images to create a digital database of lead pipes.
“I won’t rest until every lead service line is removed and the people of Flint deserve no less”, she said.
On its Twitter account, JM Eagle recently has been posting support for Flint residents – “everyone has the right to clean water” – as well as warnings to other cities – “America is Flint”.
U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) recently filed an amendment they are co-sponsoring that would protect drinking water around the country by allowing the federal government to better respond to drinking water emergencies. Democrats and open-government groups have pressured him to also disclose his office’s emails from 2012 and 2013, when emergency managers he appointed to run the city considered and approved the water switch.
The money is meant to cover the past and future costs of water used for drinking, bathing and cooking since levels of lead and other contaminants spiked, the Associated Press reported.
“We’re not an investigatory body”, Meekhof said, also calling the new committee an “oversight” panel. Residents have been cautioned to use lead filters or drink bottled water.
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The grant announcement came a day after Weaver dismissed a separate plan offered by Snyder to study whether any of the pipes could be coated temporarily to get drinkable water flowing into city homes.
