MI auditors will probe the state’s Department of Health and Human Services over its handling of elevated lead levels in Flint drinking water and a rise in Legionnaire’s disease cases, Governor Rick Snyder said Friday. “That preliminary internal review warrants an immediate and thorough investigation”.
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Another $800,000 was approved for “legal services related to records management issues and investigations regarding municipal drinking water in the city of Flint, Michigan”, to be provided by the firm Warner Norcross & Judd LLP.
“It’s beyond outrageous that Snyder wants to take $1.2 million from MI taxpayers to pay for defense attorneys over his involvement in the poisoning of Flint’s water”, state Democratic Party Chair Brandon Dillon said in a statement Tuesday, according to MLive.
Schuette’s office is “investigating on one hand and defending on the other”, Adler said. The contracts are in addition to legal representation Snyder is receiving through the office of Attorney General Bill Schuette.
The Legionella bacteria sickened 87 people between June 2014 and November 2015, killing nine in Genesee County.
Snyder released a 10-point plan to address lead contamination concerns on October 2, and he announced the Legionnaires’ outbreak during a January 13 press conference, saying he was not apprised of the situation until two days prior.
The city switched back to the Detroit water system in October, but the more corrosive water from the river leached lead from city pipes, causing a serious public health threat.
As the crisis grew over time, city and state officials repeatedly told residents the water was “safe” to consume. The announcement comes as the governor released 4,400 pages of emails and documents of his executive office related to the crisis that showed that several of Snyder’s aides warned of “big potential disasters” because of switching the source of water to Flint River too quickly.
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Legionnaires’ disease can lead to severe pneumonia, respiratory failure, kidney failure and septic shock.
