Sanders Campaign Press Release - Poison Water

FLINT, Mich. – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday told a forum here that the city's "poison water" is a "canary in the coal mine" which demands an emergency response by the federal government coupled with a long-term commitment to rebuild the country's crumbling water systems.

"The federal government has to acknowledge that this is an emergency," Sanders said. "We are looking at people being poisoned and perhaps suffering irreversible brain damage. If that's not an emergency I don't know what is," Sanders added during the meeting at the Woodside Church.

Sanders also cited the need for a massive investment in rebuilding water systems. "The situation in Flint may be extreme but all over this country our infrastructure is collapsing," Sanders said. He has proposed $70 billion over the next five years to rebuild and repair our clean drinking water infrastructure in America, as part of a $1 trillion, initiative to create or support 13-million jobs. He would pay for it by closing tax loopholes that let profitable corporations avoid paying federal income taxes by stashing profits in offshore tax havens like the Cayman Islands.

Sanders was invited to Flint after a private meeting last Feb. 15 with several Flint residents during a visit to Eastern Michigan University.

Problems with Flint's public water system date to a decision nearly two years ago by a receiver appointed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder. The governor's appointee decided to cut costs by drawing the city's drinking water from the polluted Flint River instead of from Lake Huron.

The governor and other state officials knew – but did not acknowledge until last fall – that the river water was corroding pipes and causing lead to leach into the drinking water. The decision not to add chemicals to prevent corrosion of the pipes was made at the direction of the governor's Department of Environmental Quality. The state health department in Michigan apparently knew about elevated lead levels in the blood of children but did not warn the public.

Sanders has called for Snyder's resignation over his administration's failure to deal with the lead-poisoning crisis.