Michigan lawmakers OK funds to fix Flint water crisis
LANSING, Mich. — The beleaguered city of Flint got a step closer to cleaner water Thursday when Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed a bill allocating $9.35 million to help the city reconnect to the Detroit Water and Sewer system.
Snyder said Thursday that the swift action by the Legislature was only the first step in dealing with the water crisis.
"The state will continue testing and inspections to ensure Flint families and children have clean water in their homes and schools," Snyder said in a statement.
The state Senate earlier voted 37-0 to approve the funds after the House of Representatives unanimously approved the same appropriation Wednesday night.
Republican Sen. David Hilldenbrand, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, urged his colleagues to support the measure "to address the public health crisis in the city of Flint."
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And Sen. Jim Ananich, a Democrat from Flint, said the passage of the money for Flint doesn't end the controversy.
"This is an important step necessary to fix the current crisis, and once this is complete, it’s important that our next priority is getting to the bottom of how this happened," he said. "We need to make sure this never happens again.”
In 2014, Flint officials ended the city's contract with the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, saying that water costs were too high and estimating it would save the city $1.5 million a month. They opted instead to pull from the Karegnondi Water Authority, which is building a system to supply Genesee County with water from Lake Huron.
But until the new system comes online in 2016, Flint is temporarily pulling water from the Flint River. Since it made the switch, residents have complained that the water is discolored, smells and makes them sick.
It was Hurley Medical Center pediatrician Hanna-Attisha who jump started the rapid state response when she reported that the number of Flint children with elevated blood-lead levels — 5 micrograms per deciliter or more — jumped from 2.1% in the 20 months prior to Sept. 15, 2013, to 4.0% between Jan. 1 and Sept. 15 of this year. In certain ZIP codes, the change was even more troubling, she said — jumping from 2.5% of the children tested to 6.3%.
Her findings, though originally dismissed by state environmental officials, helped prompt Genesee County to issue an emergency advisory to Flint residents, advising them to refrain from drinking city water unless it is filtered through a certified filtration device or has been tested and showed that it doesn't contain elevated lead levels.
The bulk of the state money — $6 million — will be used to help pay the cost to reconnect to Detroit's water, a plan that the Detroit Water Board approved Wednesday. Detroit and Flint are working out the details of the reconnect and contract terms once Flint begins receiving Detroit water, said Bill Wolfson, chief administrative and compliance officer and general counsel for DWSD.
"Everyone is doing everything they can to move this process forward as quickly as possibly," Wolfson said.