Michigan Gov: I'll Drink Flint Water for a Month

Rick Snyder insists that filtered water is OK
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 18, 2016 5:45 PM CDT
Michigan Gov: I'll Drink Flint Water for a Month
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, left, fills jugs with filtered Flint, Mich., tap water alongside Cheryl Hill at Hill's house on April 18, 2016.   (Jake May)

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder says he will drink Flint water at home and at work for at least a month to show to residents it's safe with the use of a faucet filter, the AP reports. The Republican governor, who has apologized for his administration's role in the city's lead-tainted water crisis (but blamed his own staff), visited a house owned by Cheryl Hill and Todd Canty that was confirmed to have high levels of lead. Snyder, who left with five gallons of filtered water, says he understands people feel that if officials say the water is OK, then he should drink it too. "What better way to help show support," says Snyder, who will get refills from other homes as needed. Hill and Canty tell MLive.com that they appreciate the governor's visit but still have a lead service line running to their home and don't know if and when it will be replaced.

"I wouldn't want to be in his position right now," Canty says. "I believe this is just one of those cases where personally he just has a lot of work to do." For nearly 18 months, Flint residents drank and bathed with improperly treated water that had coursed through aging pipes and fixtures, scraping away lead. By the time Snyder announced in October that Flint would return to its earlier source of treated water—the Detroit municipal system—dangerously high levels of the toxic metal were detected in the blood of some residents, including children, for whom it can cause lower IQs and behavioral problems. On Monday, Snyder urged residents to drink the water as long as a filter is in place. (Michael Moore called the Flint water crisis "a crime against humanity.")

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