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Federal emergency in US city of Flint where the water is too toxic to drink

$5m of federal aid has been given to the city to resolve the crisis

Eleanor Ross
Sunday 17 January 2016 14:41 GMT
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Locals queue for water in Flint
Locals queue for water in Flint (Getty)

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Barack Obama has declared a federal emergency over a city's toxic water crisis that has left more than 100,000 residents without water safe enough to drink or cook with.

Water in Flint, Michigan became contaminated two years ago when lead from the city's old pipes leaked into the supply.

The emergency declaration will enable $5m of funding to be used to provide water for the city.

Rick Snyder, the city’s governor, had previously requested £34m in federal aid from the government but it had been declined because federal emergency declarations are usually reserved just for natural disasters. However, an exception has been made for Flint where residents have complained of rashes and headaches.

The White House allowed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to initiate disaster relief efforts to "alleviate the hardship and suffering" of Flint's residents.

Fresh water and filters will now be shared out across the city.

A lawsuit has been raised against both Governor Snyder and the State of Michigan for allegedly ignoring the city’s water crisis since it started in April 2014.

People in the city have been scathing of the apparent delayed response by authorities.

"It really is a scary situation to know that we can't get clean drinking water," Sherri Miller told the AP news agency. "It really is scary to think someone knew about this" and did nothing.

Community activist Melissa Mays said: "The state was telling everybody, `It's fine, relax. ... It's safe. They lied."

The financially troubled city changed its water supply from the city of Detroit to the Flint River in 2014, but since reports of contamination. Officials failed to treat the corrosive water properly to prevent metal leaching from old pipes.

Additional reporting AP

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