Snyder Aide Says Governor Knew About Flint Water Issues A Year Before Action Was Taken

Aides close to Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and his top lawyers discussed concerns about water quality in Flint and its impact on health as early as October 2014, a full year before the water source was switched back to Detroit and away from the Flint River, according to a review of 550 newly released emails by the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News. At least one aide says the concerns were brought directly to the governor himself. State officials brought bottled water to a state building in the city in January 2015 out of concern over the water quality, a year before bottled water was made widely available to residents. These latest emails are the clearest evidence yet that Snyder’s administration, and quite likely Snyder himself, knew about the problems almost immediately after they began occurring.