Governor's statement
- From
- Meegan Holland
Hi Nick and Dan,
Senior staff in the Governor’s office has been crafting a communications plan for the next couple weeks concerning the
Flint water crisis, and | wanted to keep you in the loop.
We’re putting out our summary to media about the OAG’s letter, released today. Gov. Snyder has set up a meeting with
Flint Mayor Karen Weaver for next week. And we’re releasing this statement (which still may go through a few more
tweaks). It may go out tomorrow, possibly Wednesday:
“I’ve been briefed on the recent meeting of the task force studying the Flint water situation and I’ve read the report from
the Office of the Auditor General on the processes used by DEQ to monitor Flint water.
“The bi-partisan task force is working tirelessly to interview Flint, Genesee County, state and federal officials to complete
its independent analysis. They are reviewing hundreds of documents at all levels of government and from the public
health science community.
“I'd like to thank the task force for keeping me apprised of their continuing investigation. As they uncover more facts, it’s
clear to me we can do better. Their report may take another month or so, but if we need to make changes more swiftly, |
plan to take immediate action.
“No matter what the testing requirements were, they were not enough to prevent this crisis.
“When it comes to matters of health and quality of life, we’re committed to doing everything we can to protect the well-
being of our citizens.
“| understand there can be disagreements within the scientific community. That is why | have told my directors at MDEQ
and DHHS to invite every external scientist who has worked on the Flint water issue to the state laboratory facilities to
work as partners with us. Together, we should be able to affirm that we’re using the very best testing protocols to
ensure Flint residents have safe drinking water and that we’re doing proper monitoring and remediation of blood levels
and other health impacts over the long term.
“These are only initial steps in our corrective actions. We fully expect to take more actions following the
recommendations of our independent task force.”
“| want the Flint community and all citizens of Michigan to know how very sorry | am that this has happened.
“But | know an apology isn’t enough. We've already allocated $10 million to test the water, distribute water filters, and
help in other ways. On Thursday, | called Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, and we’re going to sit down in the next week to
discuss other ways the state can offer assistance.
“| want to assure residents there that we are working hard to resolve this crisis.”
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
- Meegan
Meegan Holland
Director of Communications for Gov. Rick Snyder
Office: 517-335-6397
Mobile
Twitter: @meholland
xxxEND_PAGE:deq19_b01_0001_0036_30