Since January, members of the U.S. Senate have been negotiating a half-billion-dollar measure to help Flint, Michigan, remove lead pipes that have poisoned potentially thousands of children. “To be blunt, I’m working on making sure we get the information out on the executive office”.
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(CNN)CNN will host a Democratic presidential debate featuring Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in Flint, Michigan, on March 6.
Complete coverage of the Flint water crisis in our special section.
“We’re not an investigatory body”, Meekhof said, also calling the new committee an “oversight” panel.
The task force is expected to look at all levels of government – city, state and federal – to see how the situation happened and look at solutions for both Flint and how to prevent similar problems in the future.
Meanwhile, the Michigan State Board of Canvassers approved another petition seeking to recall Snyder, citing the governor’s declaration of a state of emergency in Flint after lead leached from the pipes into the city’s water supply.
The city of Flint has more than 8,000 lead service lines, based on a comprehensive study of city records, a University of Michigan-Flint professor said today.
“I think once these individuals have been lied to as many times as I have, they’re going to want (subpoena power), and I’m going to have it ready for them”, he said.
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. “I won’t rest until every single lead line is removed and the people of Flint deserve no less”.
Rick Snyder, a Republican, plans to sign the bill, which had been passed unanimously by the state’s House last week.
Snyder specified the documents could be issued, “relatively soon”. 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. “We’ll work with city leaders on how these credits are applied”.
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Snyder released additional emails earlier this month, but amid criticism from lawmakers that this cache only dated to 2014, the governor told the Detroit News that the next round will reach back five years.
