- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Embattled Michigan Governor Promises to Drink Flint Tap Water for a Month

© AP Photo / Andrew HarnikSnyder Finally Testifies to Congress
Snyder Finally Testifies to Congress - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder will drink filtered Flint tap water “for at least the next month,” after residents requested that he personally consume it.

Officials with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) knew about poisonous lead in the tap water in Flint, Michigan, as early as April, and did nothing about it. - Sputnik International
Just When Was Michigan Governor Snyder Warned About Flint’s Toxic Water?
Snyder, who has been under intense scrutiny and investigation following allegations that he intensely mishandled the city of Flint’s water crisis, took home five jugs of filtered tap water on Monday, and asserted that he will be drinking and cooking with it. He claims that he will continue to restock on subsequent trips.

Flint residents remain wary of using their water, after lead and other contaminants were found at unhealthful levels, in some cases so high that it was considered “toxic waste” by Environmental Protection Agency standards.

“Flint residents made it clear that they would like to see me personally drink the water, so today I am fulfilling that request,” the Republican governor said in a statement.

The home from which he drew the water once tested far above the federal action level for lead, but has received lead-removing filters which residents are told makes the water safe to consume.

In this Feb. 26, 2016 photo, Gov. Rick Snyder speaks after attending a Flint Water Interagency Coordinating Committee meeting in Flint, Mich. The state of Michigan restricted Flint from switching water sources last April unless it got approval from Gov. Rick Snyder's administration under the terms of a $7 million loan needed to help transition the city from state management, according to a document released Wednesday, March 2, 2016. - Sputnik International
Snyder Live Tweets Denial as Democrats Slam His Handling of Flint Crisis

Snyder has refused calls for his resignation, despite his administration insisting for months that the poisoned water was safe for residents.

The contamination of Flint’s water began in April 2014, when the city stopped receiving its supply from Detroit, instead shifting to water taken directly from the Flint River, a source known to have a high corrosive salt content. Corrosive salts in the water damaged the pipes, which contain lead, causing that material to be released into the water, and contaminating it.

In October, the state changed the city’s drinking water source back from the polluted Flint River to the Detroit water system.

Lawsuits against the state and the governor allege violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act, a federal law which protects the public drinking water supply. Snyder blames the US Environmental Protection Agency, which in turn blames state officials, saying that they did not act quickly enough.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала