Discussions are being held at multiple levels in the federal government to help out the Michigan city dealing with lead in its drinking water, the city’s congressman said.
Rep. Dan Kildee represents Flint, Mich., which has gained the national spotlight since former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton mentioned the crisis during Sunday’s Democratic presidential primary debate.
The Democrat told the Washington Examiner he’s working with White House officials to send more federal assistance to Flint. President Obama opened $5 million in federal funding for the city with a declaration on Saturday, but Michigan officials are pushing for a major disaster declaration.
“We’re pursuing the federal help because the federal government has access to resources and can help,” he said. “It’s definitely legitimate for the federal government to get involved in this.”
In April 2014, Flint switched its water source from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, which draws water from Lake Huron, to a local agency that also would take water from the lake.
However, the infrastructure needed to get water from Lake Huron to Flint under the new agency was not yet built, so an emergency manager appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder decided to take water from the Flint River as a temporary measure.
The water from the Flint River is so polluted and acidic that the water ate away at the lead pipes bringing water to the city’s homes.
Kildee emphasized that, while the federal government can get involved in helping with the crisis, it’s ultimately up to the state to solve the problem they caused.
“I don’t want that to be somehow seen as the only alternative and the state has exhausted its responsibility,” he said.
“The state of Michigan needs to make it right,” he added.
Kildee added he’s working with other members of the Michigan congressional delegation to come up with legislation that would increase transparency in similar situations in the future.
The Flint native declined to get into too many specifics about the proposal but said it’s important to let the public know what’s going on when there are problems with the water supply.
“If there’s a problem in a water system, it needs to be well known,” he said.
