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Soldiers from the Michigan Army National Guard Flint prepare to give Flint residents bottled water at a fire station January 17, 2016 in Flint, Michigan. U.S. President Barack Obama declared a federal emergency in Michigan, which will free up federal aid to help the city of Flint with lead contaminated drinking water. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder requested emergency and disaster declarations after activating the National Guard to help the American Red Cross distribute water to residents.
Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
In January 2015, while residents of Flint Michigan cries that something was wrong with the tap water went ignored, state officials made provisions to have water coolers installed some eight months before city officials would admit that the tap water was unsafe to use, according to an email obtained by Progress Michigan.
Michigan began offering fresh bottled water to its workers, after a notice, which was also sent to residents, stated that the tap water “had unacceptable levels of total trihalomethanes — a chlorine byproduct that can cause cancer,” Vox reports. Residents were told that the water was safe and could still be consumed even as Michigan began offering fresh bottled water to Flint state employees.
Caleb Buhs, a spokesman for the agency that manages state buildings, told the Associated Press that the water coolers were introduced at the State Office Building after Flint failed drinking water test which have nothing to do with the lead issues that residents face currently.
“We have provided it continuously. That was a decision we made as the building owner” in Flint, Buhs said.
According to AP notices that were sent to Flint residents in January noted that the drinking water tested showed excessive amounts of trihalomethanes “cause liver, kidney or central nervous system problems and an increased risk of cancer.” The notice also added that the tap water was perfectly safe to drink.
On Thursday, Progress Michigan, released emails showing that fresh water was being delivered to city and state officials shortly after the water test showed high levels of trihalomethanes.
When asked about the water delivers on Friday, Michigan’s Gov. Rick Snyder (R), told AP that he “had no knowledge of that taking place.”
The water crisis in Flint began in April 2014 after the city switched the water supply from the “Detroit municipal water system and began drawing from the Flint River in an attempt to save money,” AP reports.
Read more at Vox and the ABC News.
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