White House appoints federal official to lead Flint response

The National Guard has more than doubled its presence in Flint, Michigan, to assist residents dealing with a drinking water crisis.

Ms. Weaver, who said she spoke with Ms. Clinton personally and met with campaign aides last week, said she was gratified to hear the former secretary of state discuss the water crisis at the Democratic debate on Sunday. Flint returned to the Detroit system in October after elevated lead levels were discovered in children.

The National Guard has been distributing free water, filters and other supplies, and FEMA workers already were providing logistical and technical support.

Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05) today continued his call for Governor Rick Snyder to utilize all state resources at his disposal for the ongoing Flint water crisis, including a recently announced $575 million state budget surplus.

Mr Snyder tweeted on Monday that officials have distributed 27,000 cases of bottled water, 50,000 water filters and 168,000 water filter replacement cartridges. “I want to solve this problem”. Another analysis in 2011 by the Environmental Working Group found that over 100 million people in 43 states were drinking water contaminated by trihalomethanes-a unsafe chemical that results from over-chlorination.

Snyder told the Journal that the Flint water crisis is “clearly a negative on what we’ve accomplished since I’ve become governor”.

In Sunday night’s Democratic presidential debate, Hillary Clinton asserted that Governor Snyder would have acted quickly if the water problem had emerged in a white suburban community rather than a largely black city.

Unlike a disaster caused by a hurricane, Flint’s water emergency is manmade. However, since most of the bottled water donated to Flint is delivered to distribution centers, Allen is anxious about people who can’t get to these locations, CNNMoney reported. The new water source had high level of iron and led to corrosion of water pipes releasing large amounts of lead into the water but was left untreated.

Sarnia’s mayor says the current water crisis in Flint, MI demonstrates how we can never take our water supply for granted.

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A day after President Obama declared a federal emergency, and routed aid for response efforts, Mr. Jackson compared Flint to the origin cities of the 1960s civil rights movement, Selma and Montgomery, Ala., and called for action by its citizens. Snyder has pushed back against those claims and also confirmed he won’t resign.