Jump to content

FLINT, MICHIGAN


greg775

Recommended Posts

  • 3 weeks later...

E-mails: Snyder could have declared Flint emergency sooner

 

Gov. Rick Snyder could have declared a state of emergency in Flint months earlier than he did, according to an e-mail sent to the governor’s office from a Michigan State Police emergency expert and released by the Snyder administration over the weekend.

 

Snyder acknowledged lead poisoning of Flint’s drinking water around Oct. 1, but faced strong criticism for not declaring a state of emergency in Flint and Genesee County until more than three months later, on Jan. 5.

 

Snyder officials have repeatedly said Snyder couldn’t take the action until local officials declared an emergency, and Genesee County did not take that action until Jan. 4.

 

But in a Nov. 13 e-mail, Capt. Chris Kelenske of the MSP, who is the deputy state director of emergency management and Homeland Security, told an official in Snyder’s office: “As you know, the Governor can declare at any time for any reason.”

 

Emails Suggest Governor's Top Aides Knew Flint Water Was Bad Over a Year Ago

 

Emails obtained by the Detroit News reveal that top aides to Michigan Governor Rick Snyder were issuing warnings over the water quality in Flint as far back as October 2014—a year before the city switched out its own contaminated water supply and reconnected to Detroit’s.

 

The emails in question were sent by Valerie Brader, then the governor’s environmental policy adviser, and Mike Gadola, then his chief counsel. The governor himself was not a recipient, but his closest advisers were, including his chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, and communications director. Snyder staffers told the News they did not take their concerns directly to the governor until October 2015, when the water supply was switched.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdo...0226-story.html

 

Everyone, if a water main has been replaced in the last few years near you, please look into lead testing. Reach out to your alderman and let them know your concern.

 

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts...y_alderman.html

Edited by bmags
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Senator Holds Up Aid For Flint Because Residents ‘Have All The Government Resources They Need’

A bipartisan aid package to send $100 million to help the residents of Flint, Michigan deal with the widespread contamination that is still plaguing their drinking water, as well as funds for other communities that may have similar issues, is being held up by at least one Republican senator.

 

Sen. Mike Lee (UT) still has a hold in place on the bill, his office confirmed to ThinkProgress. In his initial announcement on Friday, Lee issued a statement saying “federal aid is not needed at this time,” pointing to the state’s “enormous budget surplus” and a rainy-day fund.

 

“The people and policymakers of Michigan right now have all the government resources they need to fix the problem,” he said. He also pointed to the “generosity of individuals, businesses, labor unions, and civic organizations” as sources of funding that can go toward fixing the lead pipe problem.

 

Sen. Mike Lee lobbied for relief funds for Utah when flooding hit his state, and he's personally had hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt forgiven by a bank after a short sale.

Edited by StrangeSox
Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Mar 8, 2016 -> 08:14 PM)
Senator Holds Up Aid For Flint Because Residents ‘Have All The Government Resources They Need’

 

 

Sen. Mike Lee lobbied for relief funds for Utah when flooding hit his state, and he's personally had hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt forgiven by a bank after a short sale.

 

In theory I like the idea of local funds with local control for local problems. ALso in theory I reject if we did it for X we have to do it for Y. That leads to out of control government funding. Each case needs to be decided on it's own merits. And there will always be these types of connections.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS: 3 TO BE CHARGED IN FLINT WATER CRISIS

 

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Michigan's attorney general will announce criminal charges Wednesday against two state regulators and a Flint employee, alleging wrongdoing related to the city's lead-tainted water crisis, according to government officials familiar with the investigation.

 

The charges - the first levied in a probe that is expected to broaden - will be filed against a pair of state Department of Environmental Quality officials and a local water treatment plant supervisor, two officials told The Associated Press late Tuesday. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
  • 3 months later...

Study: Fewer pregnancies, more fetal deaths in Flint after lead levels rose in water

 

The city of Flint saw fewer pregnancies, and a higher number of fetal deaths, during the period women and their unborn children were exposed to high levels of lead in their drinking water, according to a new research study that reviewed health records from Flint and the state.

 

Fertility rates decreased by 12% among Flint women, and fetal death rates increased by 58%, after April 2014, according to research by assistant professors and health economists David Slusky at Kansas University and Daniel Grossman at West Virginia University. The pair examined vital statistics data for Flint and the rest of the state of Michigan from 2008 to 2015, zoomed down to the census-tract level.

 

That post-April 2014 time period is significant, because that's when — in an effort to save money — the city of Flint switched from water supplied by the city of Detroit to using the Flint River as a drinking water source, without adding needed anti-corrosives to the water. Lead levels in drinking water supplies spiked as a result.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...