Snyder speaks out on how to fix Flint

Under the circumstances, many Flint, Michigan, residents who could have paid a portion of their water bill chose to spend it on other necessities because they knew that just paying a part of it would mean they would eventually have their water shut off either way. The governor has asked the state legislature to approve a $25 million supplemental budget request that will be used to replace the water infrastructure.

Governor Rick Snyder says the federal government has not been held fully accountable for its role in the Flint water crisis.

As part of the visit, Burwell will tour Hamilton Community Health Network, a federally qualified health center in Flint that is providing blood lead testing and other health care services to families and children affected by the lead contamination. Officials argued it wouldn’t make sense to conduct a “Corrosion Control Study” of Flint’s corroded water pipes since the city planned on changing their drinking water source in 2016.

Four area men, now supported by churches, businesses and non-profit agencies, are sending bottled water and a positive message to residents in Flint, Mich. Targets of the litigation include government officials, a hospital tied to the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak, and the engineering firm that advised Flint on its water treatment facility. Governor Rick Snyder’s first-appointed emergency manager over Flint, Michael Brown, implemented the second rate hike-a staggering 47 percent increase-on July 1, 2012.

Weaver’s administration intends to begin replacing lead pipes in Flint starting next week.

The state judge also ordered two sides in a lawsuit to discuss how the city must repay its water and sewer fund by $15.7 million, said the attorney, Valdemar L. Washington, also a Flint resident and a retired state judge.

Activists expressed outrage about last year’s water bills in Flint, which is 57% black and 41% impoverished.

Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, weighed in: “We recommend along with the Department of Health that consumers get their water tested”.

“There’s not one scholar, not one study, not one expert who can ensure, who can guarantee, who can attest that this plan will in fact work to ensure safe, clean drinking water”, Brooks said.

Snyder warned that moving too quickly could trigger more problems, but declined to say how long his replacement program would take.

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The emergency powers provision authorizes EPA to take actions to protect human health when a drinking water contaminant “may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to the health of persons” when a state and local authorities haven’t acted.