Gov. Snyder during the State of the State address
Gov. Rick Snyder
Newly released emails showing that Gov. Rick Snyder and his administration could have done more to address the Flint water crisis.
The latest: Paul Egan of the Detroit Free Press writes that an email sent from a Michigan State Police emergency expert to Snyder's office says the governor could have declared a state of emergency in Flint months earlier than he did:
Snyder acknowledged lead poisoning of Flint's drinking water around Oct. 1, but faced strong criticism for not declaring a state of emergency in Flint and Genesee County until more than three months later, on Jan. 5.
Snyder officials have repeatedly said Snyder couldn't take the action until local officials declared an emergency, and Genesee County did not take that action until Jan. 4.
But in a Nov. 13 e-mail, Capt. Chris Kelenske of the MSP, who is the deputy state director of emergency management and Homeland Security, told an official in Snyder's office: "As you know, the Governor can declare at any time for any reason."
Kelenske wrote in the email to Paul Smith of the governor's office setting out the pros and cons of Snyder declaring an emergency, the News reports.
"The state will formally own the event if we put a Governor's Declaration in place," Kelenske said.
"This could be viewed as the state having owned up to how the water issue was caused." And admitting that "the triggering event" was caused by the state, he said.
