Snyder Creates Panel To Focus On Flint Water For Long Term
LANSING (AP/WWJ) - Gov. Rick Snyder is creating a committee to work long term on resolving Flint's drinking water crisis and public health concerns.
The executive order signed Monday forms the Flint Water Interagency Coordinating Committee.
It will have 17 members who will serve initial terms through 2018. The members will include state government officials, local officials and experts appointed by the governor.
The committee will be tasked with making recommendations regarding residents' health, determining feasible water infrastructure upgrades, establishing communications protocols and creating an "incident action plan."
Snyder, who has been criticized for his administration's role in the crisis, last week declared an emergency in Flint over problems with lead in the city's drinking water.
He said "we need to focus on improving Flint for the longer term."
"We still want to see people continue to use filters, though, and bottled water," Snyder said. "We don't want people to assume anything's good until we have a chance to do extensive testing and confirm that publicly. But that process has started already."
Snyder's latest action comes the same day Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton spoke out on the issue, saying in statement that the state's reassurances that Flint River water was safe for human consumption is "unconscionable."
"The people of Flint deserve to know the truth about how this happened and what Governor Snyder and other leaders knew about it. And they deserve a solution, fast," Clinton said.
Flint mayor Karen Weaver met with Snyder last Thursday — two days after the governor declared an emergency for Flint and Genessee County. Both described the discussion as productive and said they agreed to establish a group of state and local agency officials that will consider future steps.
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