Michigan Emails Show Officials Knew of Flint Water Disease Risk

[Hissyspit]

Source: Reuters

Michigan emails show officials knew of Flint water disease risk

Thu Feb 4, 2016 | 3:27 PM EST

(Reuters) - Emails between Michigan state officials show they knew about an uptick in Legionnaires disease and that it could be linked to problems with Flint water many months before Governor Rick Snyder said he received information of the outbreak.

Snyder said in January that he had just learned about the rise in Legionnaires cases. However, emails obtained by the liberal group Progress Michigan and released to reporters on Thursday show Snyder's principal adviser, Harvey Hollins, was made aware of the outbreak and a possible link to the use of Flint River water last March.

Flint, a city near Detroit, was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager when it switched the source of its tap water from Detroit's system to the Flint River in April.

The city switched back last October after tests found high levels of lead in blood samples taken from children. The more corrosive water from the river leached more lead from the city pipes than Detroit water did. Lead is a toxic agent that can damage the nervous system.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0VD2Q3

[bigdarryl]

1. But all they want to talk about is Clinton's e-mails

Last edited Thu Feb 4, 2016, 05:25 PM - Edit history (1)

[ErisDiscordia]

2. They knew one week after the switch

when they built a special secret tunnel to bring clean water to GM so their machines wouldn't rust out.

They knew it all, and they think they can buy off the people. Not gonna happen.

Snyder better be praying for Michael Moore's complete recovery.

[Rebubula]

3. Of course they knew

Anyone that was involved in this (and especially the cover up) should be fired, tried and sued.

It is DISGRACEFUL that this would happen ANYWHERE in this country.

[Frank Cannon]

6. I think you meant jailed, and in real, non-tennis-camp prison.

They need to be made a clear example of why no one else should ever try this again.

[DI Freighter Watcher]

4. State legislature

At this point the entire State legislature is complicit in the crime by their complete lack of action to impeach Snyder. Completey disgusting words fail me.

[Bernin]

5. This is sounding criminal

at this point.
Too bad the water wasn't contaminated with marijuana.
Then the DOJ could parachute in and actually do something about it.

[Eugene]

7. Governor urged to quit after release of emails on Flint legionnaires' outbreak

Source: Associated Press

Governor urged to quit after release of emails on Flint legionnaires' outbreak

Associated Press in Lansing, Michigan, and Ryan Felton in Detroit
Thursday 4 February 2016 21.38 GMT

High-ranking officials in Governor Rick Snyder’s administration were aware of a surge in legionnaires’ disease potentially linked to Flint’s water long before the Michigan governor reported the increase to the public last month, internal emails show.

After the release of the emails, the Michigan Democratic party called for Snyder to step down on Thursday.

When Snyder disclosed the spike in legionnaires’ cases on 13 January, he said he had learned about it just a couple of days earlier. But emails obtained by the liberal group Progress Michigan through public-records requests show Snyder’s own office was aware of the outbreak since last March. At the time, others in the administration were scrambling to respond to suggestions that bacteria in the city’s new water source, the Flint river, could be the culprit.

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Following the release of the emails on Thursday, the state Democratic party called for Snyder to resign, following weeks of increased criticism of the governor for the state’s delayed response in addressing the crisis.

“There is a limit to how many times you can play dumb when it comes to events and actions that take place on your watch,” said the Michigan Democratic party chairman, Brandon Dillon, in a statement. “Governor Snyder is attempting to employ this tactic again, claiming he wasn’t told of the connection, made almost a year before he informed the public, between Flint’s water and the legionella bacteria.”

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/04/governor-rick-snyder-urged-to-quit-flint-water-crisis-emails-legionnaires-outbreak

[Unknown Beatle]

8. Why isn't the fucking DOJ on this?

They should be all over this like white on rice.

If the DOJ doesn't do anything about this, then I'll be totally, 100% convinced that there's definitely two sets of laws.