Snyder also on Tuesday asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate responses to the Flint crisis by other federal agencies. "This request will identify federal agencies that have programs, authorities and/or technical expertise that could be utilized in the ongoing response and recovery efforts in Flint to be made available," according to a statement issued by the governor's office. "Such federal agencies may include the Department of Health and Human Services, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Army Corps of Engineers."
This would seem to go without saying, but in the madness of the Flint water crisis, even the most obvious points need explication: Residents of Flint should not be billed for the contaminated water that flowed into their homes for months while the city used the Flint River as a source. [...] On the long list of things that state officials should move swiftly to correct in Flint, the wiping away of this particular injustice in the city's water crisis ought to rank near the top. Reimbursing Flint residents for the money they've paid for poison water just needs to be part of the massive bill the state tallies for its own negligence in this crisis.