Showing posts with label Rick Snyder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rick Snyder. Show all posts

Thursday, March 17, 2016

VIDEO: Congressional hearings on Flint water Crisis

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder called the water crisis in Flint a "failure of government at all levels" during his testimony at a hearing before Congress on Thursday. The people of Flint, including more than 8,000 children, were exposed to lead for more than a year before the tap water contamination was uncovered by citizen activists. Watch the full hearing with Gov. Snyder below.

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Amid denials, state workers in Flint got clean water

In January of 2015, when state officials were telling worried Flint residents their water was safe to drink, they also were arranging for coolers of purified water in Flint's State Office Building so employees wouldn't have to drink from the taps, according to state government e-mails released Thursday by the liberal group Progress Michigan.

A Jan. 7, 2015, notice from the state Department of Technology, Management and Budget, which oversees state office buildings, references a notice about a violation of drinking water standards that had recently been sent out by the City of Flint.

"While the City of Flint states that corrective actions are not necessary, DTMB is in the process of providing a water cooler on each occupied floor, positioned near the water fountain, so you can choose which water to drink," said the notice.

"The coolers will arrive today and will be provided as long as the public water does not meet treatment requirements."

Caleb Buhs, a spokesman for DTMB, said the water coolers were provided in response to the city health notice in late December or early January, which he acknowledged was about a contamination issue the city said had already subsided. The state continued to provide the coolers of purified water, right up to today, because "there were more findings as we went along," Buhs said.

Buhs said his department never told state workers the tap water was unsafe to drink, but only provided an alternative, as a landlord would do for tenants.

Read more: Amid denials, state workers in Flint got clean water

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

President Barack Obama addresses the water crisis in Flint

President Barack Obama addressed the water crisis in Flint, Mich. on Wednesday.

“If I was a parent out there I would be beside myself that my kid’s health could be at risk,” Obama said, adding that he declared a Federal Emergency and designated a federal coordinator to help with the crisis. Obama also spoke about his meeting on Tuesday with Flint's mayor.

“I told her we were gonna have her back and all the people's of Flint's back," he said.

“It is a reminder of why you can’t shortchange basic services that we provide to our people and that we together provide as a government to make sure that public health and safety is preserved,” Obama said.

[SOURCE]