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TexasTowelie

(111,303 posts)
Sat Sep 17, 2016, 07:49 PM Sep 2016

U.S. Senate passes bill with $100 million for Flint

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate passed sweeping legislation Thursday authorizing water-related projects around the nation, including at least $100 million to replace and repair lead water pipes in Flint.

Passage of the Water Resources Development Act for this year had been widely expected since it had bipartisan support in the Senate. But with legislative days running out in an election year and much yet to be done — including passing legislation to fund the government — the bill and its Flint funding have an uncertain future in the U.S. House, which would still have to pass it for it to be sent to President Barack Obama and be signed into law.

The legislation is the result of months of effort by U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, both D-Mich., who had repeatedly been beaten back on attempts to get funding passed for Flint, where skyrocketing levels of lead in the drinking water were detected by experts more than a year ago and higher blood-lead levels were detected in children.

Flint's drinking water woes continue — nine months after the president declared an emergency there — with people still drinking bottled or filtered water, though the water quality has improved. State and local officials, including Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, say they believe confidence in the drinking water system won't be restored until all of its miles of old lead pipe and fixtures throughout the city are replaced.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2016/09/15/us-senate-passes-bill-100-million-flint/90411042/

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