“In our initial investigations, we have found that approximately 75% of the parcels marked by the city as having lead pipes do not have them when we inspect the part of the lines into the homes”, Biehl said.
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A state of emergency has been declared in Flint, a city with at least 40 percent of residents living in poverty and in April of 2014 the debt-wracked city opted to switch its water supply to the Flint River in a desperate cost-cutting measure.
Flint didn’t treat the water with anti-corrosion chemicals, allowing the river water to scrape too much lead from aging pipes and into some residents’ homes.
Snyder last week announced that Flint would receive $2 million to help with pipe replacement costs in the next month, intended as a reimbursement for what the city paid last fall toward reconnecting with Detroit’s water system until a new pipeline to Lake Huron is built.
Specifically, the EPA cited Flint’s lack of qualified personnel at the city’s public water plant. What are the root causes of Flint’s water crisis? That includes water used for drinking, cooking or bathing, according to Snyder’s office. The City has 10 days to appeal Gov. Snyder’s decision.
Leading House Democrats visited Flint, Mich., on Monday to examine the city’s water crisis and lob warnings that cuts in infrastructure would promote similar emergencies nationwide.
“The people need the opportunity to express their democratic right as well as their political will”, Bullock said.
The state Senate on Tuesday gave final approval to a supplemental spending bill requested by Snyder.
A long-recognized neurotoxin, lead poisoning can lead to serious developmental problems in children, along with hair loss, nausea, vomiting and extreme fatigue in victims of any age.
“We need to find out which of the city’s pipes are made of lead and have lead soldering, and are the most critical to address immediately”, Snyder said. “Hopefully we can get to the bottom of what happened so we can make good policy decisions to make sure this never happens again”, Ananich said, who has called for a separate legislative task force to look into the Flint crisis for months.
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“Earlier, the Governor spoke to the White House, and Homeland Security Secretary Johnson about what kind of assistance the federal government can provide”. Residents have been cautioned to use lead filters or drink bottled water.
