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Only on 7: Official calls on Gov. to come clean

Posted at 4:12 PM, Feb 11, 2016
and last updated 2021-01-14 15:59:55-05

Only on 7, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is being urged to come clean on school lead testing and emails in the Flint Water Crisis.

Newly obtained emails by The Flint Journal and MLive show Snyder did not share startling lead test results from last October until the he came to town to announce the results himself.

On Oct. 8, Snyder said at a Flint news conference, “We found some concerns in some of our testing of the schools in Flint. Um, and we want to be proactive on that.”

The testing showed lead in the water at three Flint schools, six times the norm in one school.

So who knew what and when?

The newly obtained email from Jim Henry, Genesee County Environmental Health Supervisor said: “MDEQ explained that the Governor prohibited releasing all Genesee County lead results until after the press conference.” 

He was frustrated and also wrote: “MDEQ reminds me of a stubborn 2yr old child. Instead of doing what is right, they’ll willfully take another spanking just to be defiant.”

Snyder was back in Flint on Thursday morning for a visit to a local food bank, thanking workers helping Flint residents still living in the health crisis. They still can’t drink their water.

He was adamant about this new PR crisis saying, “No, that was absolutely inaccurate, what was reported. And again in terms of making allegations along those lines, we did—I didn’t delay anything.”

But only on 7, the Chairman of the Genesee County Commission, Jamie W. Curtis, the top elected official in Flint, responded that the Governor is wrong and needs to come clean.

"I’d say he’s wrong based on what he said and based on what I have in my hand. He is wrong.” Curtis said. “Why don’t people just step up to the plate, look at what’s been said, and then say, 'You know what, an error’s been made and we’re going to correct the error and go forward.' You can not get away from the fact of what’s been said, what’s been documented. You can deny it today and own up to it later. And I guess that’s what will happen during the investigation process."

The feds and Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette are investigating who knew what and when. The Genesee County Commission Chairman says come on up, the email doesn’t lie.