A federal judge called having no decision over a future source of water by the Flint City Council a “failure of leadership.”
Now Judge Davis Lawson has given all sides until tomorrow to file expedited briefs in the litigation.
At issue long term safe water for Flint. The city can continue to buy water from Detroit and The Great Lakes Water Authority.
Or Flint can tap into the Karegondi Water Pipleline built from Lake Huron over to Flint. But to use that, the Flint Water Treatment Plant will need an expensive upgrade costing between $58 and $67 million and take up to 3 1/2 years to complete.
Families who lost a dozen loved ones in the Legionnaires Disease outbreak in 2014 and 2015 are now losing their patience.
Michael Snyder’s father John died of Legionnaires and said, “You just shake your head. It shouldn’t be that hard.”
Flint, under control by the state, switched off Detroit water to the Flint River in April of 2014 to save money.
The river was more corrosive and caused lead and other contaminates to permeate the city. The water was switched back in October of 2015.
The switch is also tied to the Legionnaires Disease cases.
Michael Snyder says it is time to make some tough decisions.
“Do you job. Please? Just do your job," he says. "If you have to stay after school, stay after school to do your job.”
It is not clear what Judge Lawson will do next. The Flint City Council wanted more time to hire an expert to analyze all of the options.
