Flint water crisis: President Obama pledges to support citizens affected by contamination of drinking supply

While the US Environmental Protection Agency is reviewing its handling of the crisis, it also blamed the state

President Barack Obama: 'If I were a parent up there, I would be beside myself that my kid’s health could be at risk' (AP)

President Barack Obama pledged his support to citizens of Flint, Michigan, as environmental regulators prepared to provide Congress with information about their role in the water crisis.

Blame is swirling after a switch in the water supply to the financially strapped city of 100,000 north of Detroit led to elevated levels of lead in drinking water.

President Obama said in an interview with CBS: “What is inexplicable and inexcusable is once people figured out that there was a problem there and that there was lead in the water, the notion that immediately families weren’t notified, things weren’t shut down. If I were a parent up there, I would be beside myself that my kid’s health could be at risk.”

Facing protests, lawsuits and calls for his resignation, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, a Republican, has apologised to the city’s residents and called for the state to spend $28m on fixes. Michigan House quickly approved Mr Snyder’s funding request on Wednesday.

While the US Environmental Protection Agency said it was reviewing its handling of the crisis and could have acted faster to inform the government of what measures to take, it also blamed the state. It said its oversight was hampered by “failures and resistance at the state and local levels”.

Flint, under a state-appointed emergency manager, switched to Flint River water in April 2014 from the Lake Huron supply that Detroit uses to save money. Complaints about the water began within a month of the move. But Flint did not return to Detroit water until October 2015, after tests showed elevated levels of lead – which can cause brain damage and other health problems – in Flint tap water and in some children. Corrosive water from the river, known locally as a dumping ground, caused more lead to leach from Flint pipes than the previous supply had.

“This is something nobody should have to deal with. Everybody should have clean water,” Flint Mayor Karen Weaver told a conference in Washington. “They need to be much more aggressive in what’s going on with Flint,” Ms Weaver said of the EPA’s response.

Reuters