LANSING – The state should keep paying for bottled water for Flint residents until all lead water lines in the city have been replaced, Attorney General Bill Schuette said Monday.
Schuette's comments are a rebuke to Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, who has clashed on many issues with the GOP attorney general who wants to succeed him.
Snyder announced on Friday that the free distribution of bottled water is ending once existing supplies run out, which is expected to be this week.
"It seems to me that bottled water distribution in Flint should continue until lead pipes have been replaced and trust in government has been restored," Schuette said through his state spokeswoman, Andrea Bitely.
Bitely said that in addition to Flint residents relying on bottled water, those involved in the prosecution of criminal cases Schuette has brought against 15 current or former state and city employees do as well.
"Every week when we are in the Genesee County courthouse in downtown Flint, working to get justice for families who unknowingly drank water that poisoned them, our prosecutors, witnesses and others drink bottled water," Bitely said in an e-mail.
Bitely said she wouldn't speculate on whether Schuette might initiate or support legal action to require continued free distribution of bottled water by the state.
Under a settlement of an earlier federal lawsuit, the end to free distribution of bottled water was provided for once testing of the drinking water showed it consistently measured at lead levels below federal "action levels," which it has now done.
Preliminary data for the latest testing period shows that 90% of the high-risk sites sampled are at or below 4 parts per billion — well below the federal action level of 15 parts per billion.
But many Flint residents still don't trust the water, even with lead filters on their taps, particularly when ongoing excavation to replace lead water lines could result in short-term spikes of lead in water in localized areas.
Residents reacted with outrage to Snyder's announcement and began lining up to get a share of the remaining bottled water supplies.
Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, Schuette's main Republican opponent for governor in 2018, is campaigning to continue what he has called the Michigan comeback initiated by Snyder. A Calley campaign spokesman did not immediately respond to an e-mail Monday asking about Calley's position on cutting off free bottled water to Flint.
Sen. Patrick Colbeck, R-Canton, another GOP candidate for governor, said he agrees with the end to free bottled water for Flint, except for specific homes where drinking water met clean water standards before the crisis but does not meet those standards today.
Democratic gubernatorial candidates Gretchen Whitmer, Shri Thanedar, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, and Bill Cobbs have all blasted the move.
Flint Mayor Karen Weaver has also criticized the decision.
Flint's drinking water became contaminated with lead in 2014 after the city, while under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager, switched the supply from Lake Huron water treated in Detroit to Flint River water treated at the Flint Water Treatment Plant.
The state Department of Environmental Quality failed to require the addition of corrosion control chemicals. As a result, lead leached into the water from pipes, joints and fittings, causing a spike in toxic lead levels in the blood of Flint children.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the WZZM 13 app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@wzzm13.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter.
