A Day of Reckoning for Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder? Let’s Raise a Glass of Clean Water to That

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from truthdig:


A Day of Reckoning for Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder? Let’s Raise a Glass of Clean Water to That

Posted on Mar 29, 2016
By Bill Blum


If you’re waiting to see Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder brought to justice for his role in the Flint water crisis, don’t hold your breath. And if you’re planning to visit Flint while you wait, exercise caution before imbibing the H2O, even if state and federal regulators say the water quality has improved.

Despite the recent easing of the crisis, the Republican governor doesn’t deserve the slightest delay on his day of reckoning. He remains at the center of what can only be described as an ecological disaster—a mass, racially tinged poisoning, if you will—that has devastated a community that was once a hub of our industrial heartland but is now a shell of its former self. Snyder needs to be held to account, and the sooner the better.

The National Law Journal has reported that some 40 civil lawsuits have been filed on behalf of Flint residents injured by exposure to dirty water. Some have been lodged in state court; others have been filed in federal district court. Many are class actions, and several have named Snyder as a defendant.

In addition, both the FBI and the Michigan attorney general’s office have initiated investigations to determine whether any public or private parties should be held criminally responsible under state or federal law.

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Finally, apart from bringing Snyder’s political career to a merciful end (his second and final term expires at the end of 2018), the Flint crisis should serve as a wake-up call to all of us: Access to clean, fresh water should be considered a fundamental human right that no one, especially a politician peddling austerity budgeting, can lawfully undermine or compromise. ............(more)

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/a_day_of_reckoning_for_gov_rick_snyder_glass_clean_water_20160329