Michigan has declared the Flint water crisis an emergency

Jiggyfly

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Michigan Fails to Hand Out Bottled Water in Lead-Poisoned Flint
by STEPHANIE GOSK, HANNAH RAPPLEYE and TRACY CONNOR

Michigan has declared the Flint water crisis an emergency — but the state has not yet provided bottled water even though lead levels are still high.

Churches and other organizations have been left to fill the gap. A local sheriff who began distributing filters on his own discovered two out of three homes visited did not have them yet.

The Rev. Bobby Jackson of the Mission of Hope has handed out hundreds of bottles of free water to people coming from all over Flint on bikes and on foot because they can't afford to buy their own.

"It's all come from donations," he told NBC News.


After the mission ran dry, another church, First Trinity Baptist, took collection money and rushed out to buy two pallets, and dropped some off with Jackson on Friday.

Catrina Tillman, the wife of First Trinity's pastor, said she did not understand how the governor could declare a state of emergency but not arrange to have water distributed.

"It's kind of embarrassing," Tillman said. "The state of Michigan is surrounded by five lakes, so you wouldn't think water would be an issue, but somehow it is."

A brewery in North Carolina plans to ship more than 50,000 cans of water to Flint next week.

"When you have the ability to do something and the time and energy to do it, it's important to help out folks that are in need," said Aaron Baker, marketing manager for Oskar Blues.


The water crisis began in April 2014 after Flint switched sources for its water supply to save money. The new water was saltier and corroded old pipes, allowing lead to leach into the system and poison children.

Flint has now switched back to its old water source, but the lead levels are still high, leaving anyone who drinks from a tap — especially youngsters — at risk.

At a press conference on Thursday, Gov. Rick Snyder said he is working on a plan to get more water and water filters to the 100,000 people of Flint, but provided no specifics or timetable.


Late Friday, a spokesman said the state will release more details this week on efforts to distribute water, filters and testing kits.

The state has handed out 11,587 filters so far and will go door-to-door if necessary to make sure people have the devices and have installed them correctly, the governor's office said in statement.

Meanwhile, the city is working with the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan to set up a water distribution site with the help of volunteers.

"We expect to amplify these efforts in the coming days as more community partners sign on. Right now, our main challenge is personnel and manpower," said Sean Kammer, assistant to the city administrator.

On Thursday, Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickell mobilized reserve deputies and people sentenced to community service and dispatched them to hand out filters and bottled water.

His teams managed to visit 200 homes; two-thirds had no filters, he reported.

"We're going to do this until we get everyone in the city of Flint a filter," Pickell said
 

Jiggyfly

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Flint, Michigan, Declares State of Emergency Amid Lead in Drinking Water Scare
by ERIK ORTIZ

In trying to solve one water crisis, the city of Flint, Michigan, has inadvertently created a newer, even bigger one — and it's coming at the cost of children's health.

Now, after tests have shown elevated lead levels in the blood of some local children, the mayor of Flint has declared a state of emergency to pave the way for possible government disaster aid.


"I can tell you today that we need state and federal assistance for the people to feel comfortable. We need some help," Flint Mayor Karen Weaver said during a Tuesday afternoon news conference, after first announcing the disaster declaration Monday.

"There's no question in my mind that Flint is not able to take on this challenge by ourselves," she added as residents in attendance broke out in applause.


Weaver was elected in November, running on the promise that she would declare the state of emergency in the city of 99,700.

She said damage to children caused by lead exposure is irreversible, and that the city will need to spend more on special education and mental health services as a result.

Exposure to lead can cause behavior problems and learning disabilities in young children, health officials warn.

Genesee County, where Flint is located, earlier declared a public health emergency. Officials have told Flint residents not to drink unfiltered tap water.

Flint's water woes are only the latest for a community that saw its financial fortunes sink with the downturn of the American auto industry.

Flint switched from Detroit's water system last year to the Flint River as part of a cost-cutting move while under the state's emergency financial management. Officials had estimated the cash-strapped city would save about $5 million in less than two years because of the change.

Tapping from the Flint River was supposed to be an interim source until the city could join a new system getting water from Lake Huron.

But residents complained about the taste, smell and appearance of the water. Officials maintained the water met safety standards, but children were later found to have elevated lead levels in their blood and it was determined that corrosive river water was drawing lead from aging underground pipes.



"So far, what we've had is Band-Aid fixes. We have the filter program, we have talked about diets for lead exposure, and don't get me wrong, we want these things to continue," Weaver said at a City Council meeting Monday night, according to NBC affiliate WEYI. "We need all of that, but it's not enough."

Residents flooded City Hall in protest this year saying their children were being poisoned; water filters and bottled water were handed out as part of a government response.

Flint mom Lee Anne Walters told NBC News in October that the tap water was to blame for her son, Garrett, seeing his lead levels triple.

"I'm all for doing what's in the best interest of our city," Walters said about the initial move to switch water systems. "But if you're going to do this, you better make sure it's safe — and they didn't."


Ron Leix, a spokesman for the state Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division, said county commissioners would need to support Flint's disaster declaration in order for financial aid to be considered.

And that could take time.

"It's not like FEMA will come here on a magic carpet," Leix told NBC News on Tuesday. "It can be a lengthy process."

Already, county officials have signaled they may not back Weaver's request. Genesee County board Chairman Jamie Curtis said he has no plans to call a special meeting to vote on supporting the disaster aid, reported MLive.com

A call to the county Board of Commissioners went unanswered Tuesday afternoon.

Leix, meanwhile, said it's unclear how much money Flint would be able to collect in government aid even if the process does move forward. "We haven't seen the damage assessment," he added.
 

BipolarFuk

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Infrastructure of this country quickly going to dogshit, but we need MOAR military!!!! Even shit the Pentagon doesn't want we need MOAR!!!!!
 

Genghis Khan

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Umm, different budgets from different government entities that have nothing to do with each other much?
 

Genghis Khan

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It's quite a stretch to blame federal military expenditures for the deterioration of water pipes in Michigan.
 

townsend

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It's quite a stretch to blame federal military expenditures for the deterioration of water pipes in Michigan.
Well if you take it as an overall percentage of the U.S. GDP that's devoted to war compared to infrastructure I'd say it's pretty disproportionate. The defense budget is horrendously bloated.
 

BipolarFuk

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Well if you take it as an overall percentage of the U.S. GDP that's devoted to war compared to infrastructure I'd say it's pretty disproportionate. The defense budget is horrendously bloated.
Head scratching for sure why we can't cut the military budget and put it towards repair of bridges, water pipes, sewer, ect. Take the people getting laid off making useless tanks or whatever and put them to work saving the infrastructure. Go ahead and cut welfare as well. It is a serious problem that is going to come with a huge bill.
 

L.T. Fan

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City infrastructure is a dereliction of duty by the federal government?
 

Cowboysrock55

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Umm, different budgets from different government entities that have nothing to do with each other much?
Yeah the only real argument that can be made is that we need a smaller national government which would allow for the state governments to be able to tax people more and afford to actually fix infrastructure. I think Federal Grants to states are kind of a load of shit. All they really are is a way for the Federal Government to try and control states.
 

Cotton

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Yeah the only real argument that can be made is that we need a smaller national government which would allow for the state governments to be able to tax people more and afford to actually fix infrastructure. I think Federal Grants to states are kind of a load of shit. All they really are is a way for the Federal Government to try and control states.
All transportation-related federal grants (i.e. the Tiger grants) are now all basically relegated to infrastructure issues at the state level and below. The issue with these grants are the strings attached. For cities of moderate size or smaller it's almost impossible for them to come up with the matching funds. Meaning the feds give 80% and the local govt has to come up with a 20% match. That and performance issues that have been implemented lately aren't exactly fair to the city govts because the state DOTs are not being held to the same performance requirements. It's a crappy place we are in and the feds aren't making much progress in fixing it long-term. They did pass a recent transportation bill that is going to help, but yet again there is an expiration on the legislation. This makes it almost impossible for those small govt entities to be able to work that money into their master plans because it can't be counted on in 4 years.
 

townsend

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All transportation-related federal grants (i.e. the Tiger grants) are now all basically relegated to infrastructure issues at the state level and below. The issue with these grants are the strings attached. For cities of moderate size or smaller it's almost impossible for them to come up with the matching funds. Meaning the feds give 80% and the local govt has to come up with a 20% match. That and performance issues that have been implemented lately aren't exactly fair to the city govts because the state DOTs are not being held to the same performance requirements. It's a crappy place we are in and the feds aren't making much progress in fixing it long-term. They did pass a recent transportation bill that is going to help, but yet again there is an expiration on the legislation. This makes it almost impossible for those small govt entities to be able to work that money into their master plans because it can't be counted on in 4 years.
This has been very informative.
 

Cotton

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This has been very informative.
MAP-21 was what broke some people in the industry's spirits because it was promised it would be extended permanently, yet we went through 2 years of 3-6 month extensions which caused the lobbying very labor and time-intensive. Lots of money got poured into that because of how important not only the infrastructure is, but also capital replacement and some tax incentive stuff for non-SOV (single occupancy vehicle) commuters. Needless to say it was very important to the industry as a whole and we got dragged along and fed BS for 2 years. This new legislation is good news, but they still added the expiration to the bill, so who fucking knows what will happen in 4 years.
 

townsend

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MAP-21 was what broke some people in the industry's spirits because it was promised it would be extended permanently, yet we went through 2 years of 3-6 month extensions which caused the lobbying very labor and time-intensive. Lots of money got poured into that because of how important not only the infrastructure is, but also capital replacement and some tax incentive stuff for non-SOV (single occupancy vehicle) commuters. Needless to say it was very important to the industry as a whole and we got dragged along and fed BS for 2 years. This new legislation is good news, but they still added the expiration to the bill, so who fucking knows what will happen in 4 years.
it seems like they never want to fully commit. This way they can high five themselves for passing the same thing 4 years from now. Or forget about it.
 

Cotton

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it seems like they never want to fully commit. This way they can high five themselves for passing the same thing 4 years from now. Or forget about it.
Dude, welcome to my struggle.
 

NoDak

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So bipo is posting memes that call for the arrest of politicians now? Uh, oh. Look out Hillary.
 

shane

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I know a lot of the tea party and liberty people in Michigan have been aching to recall Snyder. This might be the story that kicks this asshole out of office in disgrace for good.
 
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