As calls for the governor of Michigan Rick Snyder to be charged for his role in the Flint water contamination crisis grow, a new piece of evidence has emerged, revealing that he knew the risks of switching the city’s water source.
According to The Daily Beast, emergency manager Ed Kurtz rejected the plan to switch Flint’s water source in 2012 from Detroit to the Flint River over safety concerns. The Snyder administration however, overruled the emergency manager in an attempt to save money.
Kurtz and city financial manager Jerry Ambrose looked into the proposal in changing Flint’s water supply but after an investigation, a team of researchers found that it was “not feasible” to switch.
The Snyder administration overruled the city’s findings and went ahead in switching to Flint River water in March 2015.
As the number of lead poisoning cases begin to rise, ACLU attorney Curt Guyette is launching an investigation to find the responsible party for the fateful decision to switch the water source while ignoring earlier data.
“How could the river that was rejected as Flint’s permanent water source in December 2012 suddenly become suitable for consumption a mere 16 months later?” wrote Guyette.
Snyder has been secretive about his involvement in the crisis and claims Detroit refused to continue their water service to Flint, while maintaining the decision was not his. Guyette is calling for Snyder to release all the emails and documentation relating to the catastrophe.
“Snyder can help shed light on [the Flint crisis] by releasing all of his emails — both from both his government account and any personal email accounts that he might have used to conduct state business — going back to at least as early as the start of 2012 when members of his own administration considered and rejected using Flint’s river,” said Guyette.
Featured image via Flickr
Leave a Reply