Flint water crisis: governor's aides knew of issues within weeks, records suggest

Source: The Guardian

Flint water crisis: governor's aides knew of issues within weeks, records suggest

Among 21,000 documents released by Michigan’s governor one shows officials
due to discuss Flint ‘water issues’ in June 2014, within weeks of supply switch

Ryan Felton in Detroit
Saturday 13 February 2016 13.00 GMT

Michigan governor Rick Snyder’s top aides were probably apprised of water quality issues in Flint just weeks after the city switched its water source, according to documents released on Friday.

Flint’s water supply was contaminated by lead, after the source of the city’s drinking water was switched from Lake Huron to the Flint river in April 2014, while the city was operated by a Snyder-appointed emergency manager. Water from the Flint river had for months corroded lead from the inside of water pipes before flowing into thousands of households across the city.

Residents began complaining about the water almost immediately after the switch was made.

On 11 June 2014 Flint officials planned a conference call with Rich Baird and Harvey Hollins, two of the governor’s aides who have since been deployed to aid in the response to Flint’s water crisis. Plans for the call included discussion of “water issues”, according to an agenda released in more than 21,000 pages of documents by Snyder’s office on Friday.

The agenda also stated: “River processed water continues to meet all (Michigan department of environmental quality) standards.”

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/13/flint-water-crisis-governors-aides-knew-of-issues-within-weeks-records-suggest