Michigan AG declined to investigate Flint water in December

[Siwsan]

LANSING — Earlier today Attorney General Bill Schuette called for an investigation into the Flint water crisis. Just three weeks ago, however, Schuette had declined to take any action when asked by a Flint representative to do so.

Today, Schuette's office said that they will look to see if any Michigan laws were broken. Schuette described the Flint water crisis as a "human tragedy."

In September of 2015 State Representative Sheldon Neeley asked Schuette to investigate the Flint water crisis. In a letter to Schuette's office, Neeley said, "I make this request to urge the Attorney general's Office to investigate and determine if the City of Flint and/or the State of Michigan and its agents have culpability and responsibility for this unfortunate problem. "

On December 22, 2015 the Attorney General's Office sent a response to Neeley. In a response to Neeley, Rusty Hills, the Senior Advisor from the Executive Division, told Neeley, "As the Attorney General explained, given the multiple reviews by federal and state agencies, and the pending and potential federal court actions, we do not believe it necessary to conduct an additional investigation."

NBC25 News has reached out to he Attorney General's Office and asked what changed between December 22 of last year and now.

Schuette's office tells NBC25 that they have no comment.

http://nbc25news.com/news/local/michigan-ag-declined-to-investigate-flint-water-in-december

[safeinOhio]

1. Schuette's big plans to run

for governor may have to go on hold. I don't think he wants to figure out how to pay for all this crap.

[Siwsan]

3. I'm hoping this scuttles ANY Republican dreams of retaining the Governorship

Yes, they may have poisoned more than just our water and our children - they may (I hope) have poisoned their party.

[safeinOhio]

10. I moved back to Michigan just in time

to see it turn back to Blue.

[Siwsan]

12. The Flint area is blue, through and through

Both Senators - Stabenow and Peters, our Congressman, Dan Kildee, my State Senator, Jim Ananich and my State Rep, Phil Phelps.

I dread to think what would have happened if we had to depend on republicans to take up this cause!! They'd probably have set up booths to SELL us the clean drinking water.

[daleanime]

2. Of course no one has any "culpability and responsibility....

for this unfortunate problem".

I mean it's not like the entire crisis was man-made or anything.

[shraby]

4. It's called CYA! He's a day late and a dollar short. By waiting this long after being

contacted he's become part of the problem.

[Takket]

5. Schuette is going to investigate this? He's going to investiage the government he's a part of?

I haven't felt this confident since Christie announced he was going to appoint his own investigator to investigate whether Christie was involved with bridgegate.

[Siwsan]

7. Our saving grace are people like Congressman Dan Kildee and State Senator Jim Ananich

They are not going to stop pushing until this situation is resolved. We are so fortunate to have such great Democrats taking up this cause. They have been pushing, since this issue came to light, but until we got the national spotlight shining on us (THANK YOU, RACHEL MADDOW!!!) they were fighting an uphill battle.

[malaise]

6. They are all going to prison

Men are running scared now

[Siwsan]

8. I sure hope so!!

And I want video of the frog-march.

[saturnsring]

9. Schuette's office said that they will look to see if any Michigan laws were broken. poisoning

people isn't a broken law? covering up poison you put in their water not a broken law?! SOunds like the start of a loooooooong investigation taking years before it's covered up

[lpbk2713]

13. People in high places will be given enough time and warning to cover their tracks

If anyone is held accountable it will be those who occupied
the lower levels of the decision making process. That's how
it usually works out.

[dixiegrrrrl]

17. that class action lawsuit will speed things up

because the first thing you do in a lawsuit is start the depositions and discovery process.

[saturnsring]

18. man, the dems should use this as an example of what the republicons have in store for them

vote republican for your daily dose of lead poisoning

[Octafish]

11. Then he should be getting a good lawyer.

Poisoning every child in a major US city is a crime.

[atreides1]

15. Is it?

And is there any actual evidence that the decisions made, were malicious?

Don't get me wrong, I'd just as soon crucify the whole lot, starting with Snyder and then going from him down the line to any and every one who had a hand in the decision, and throw in the AG for good measure!


And I do mean to actually crucify...nails in the wrists and feet, nailing them to a tree, etc.

[Octafish]

16. Oh, I don't know. Malicious? Negligence? In this case both are criminal.

What good skeptics were calling "Conspiracy Theory" until Sept. 2015:

Flint, Michigan residents fight lead poisoning of water supply

By James Brewer and Lawrence Porter
World Socialist Web Site, 26 September 2015

After the city of Flint, Michigan started drawing its water supply from the Flint River last year, LeeAnne Walters’ young child became sick and was diagnosed with lead poisoning. She became concerned with the health threat posed to all area children from household tap water.

In March, the city did two separate tests of the water in the Walters home showing lead levels significantly higher than the threshold set by the Environment Protection Agency (EPA). She then contacted the EPA in June. Thirty water samples were taken from her home and sent to scientists at Virginia Tech (VT) for analysis.

The EPA “action level” for lead in water is 15 parts per billion (ppb). Even the city’s initial samples showed significantly higher levels—104 ppb and 397 ppb. The samples sent to Virginia Tech, however, showed levels of up to 13,200 ppb—twice the amount that the EPA classifies as “hazardous waste.”

Walters told the WSWS, “My son has blood poisoning from exposure to lead. He has anemia. We know he is going to lose IQ points and lost a ton of weight. He’s four years old and he is having a number of problems that we are dealing with now.”

The health dangers of lead poisoning are now widely known. The World Health Organization reports, “Lead is a cumulative toxicant that affects multiple body systems … Young children are particularly vulnerable to the toxic effects of lead and can suffer profound and permanent adverse health effects, particularly affecting the development of the brain and nervous system.”

The head of Virginia Tech’s Water Resources Engineering Program is Dr. Marc Edwards, one o the most highly respected experts on water system toxicity in the US. Edwards was instrumental in exposing the catastrophic 2001 lead-in-water problem of Washington, DC. He made the connection with the corrosive chemistry that caused lead to leach into the water from the piping system.

CONTINUED...

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/09/26/flin-s26.html

That was September. Here it is January and the governor only now is calling in for federal help?

What do you think? Legal? Illegal?

[joeybee12]

14. What has changed is now they know they need to cover it up...nt