Each day brings another revelation in the Flint Water Crisis. Yesterday (January 28), advocacy group Progress Michigan released documents that prove that Michigan officials were providing state employees with safe water long before they would admit there was a problem in Flint.
On January 2, 2015, the City of Flint issued a memo telling citizens that while the water had failed to meet treatment requirements, “there is nothing you need to do unless you have a severely compromised immune system, have an infant, or are elderly.”
But the state opted for a different approach for employees in the Flint State Office Building. In a notice issued by the state’s Department of Technology, Management and Budget just five days later, the department said—in response to the drinking standard violations—it was “in the process of providing a water cooler on each occupied floor, positioned near a water fountain, so you can choose which water to drink.”
“Another day and another example of the Snyder administration’s lackluster response to this crisis. Worse yet, this shows that the response was not only late and so far ineffective, but it was also unequal,” Michigan Progress’ executive director, Lonnie Scott, said in a press release. “Governor Snyder needs to explain to the people of Flint why his administration trucked water into a state building while allowing residents to drink unsafe water.”
(H/t The Huffington Post)