Gov. Snyder to create committee for Flint crisis

Governor Rick Snyder signed an executive order today to create a committee dedicated to supporting Flint during the city's water crisis.

A press release from the governor's office states the Flint Water Interagency Coordinating Committee will bring together a wide range of experts to find solutions to the water situation and public health concerns. The FWIACC will look for long-term health effects from high lead levels in water and provide information to the public. 

The committee will have the following 17 members to serve until Dec. 31, 2018:

--The director of Office of Urban Initiatives within the Executive Office of the Governor;
--The deputy state director of Emergency Management and Homeland Security within the Michigan Department of State Police;
--The director of the Department of Environmental Quality, or his or her designee;
--The director of the Department of Health and Human Services, or his or her designee;
--The director of the Department or Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, or his or her designee;
--The state treasurer, or his or her designee;
--The superintendent of public instruction, or his or her designee;
--The elected mayor of the City of Flint, who shall be appointed to the Coordinating Committee by the Governor;
--Three additional representatives of the City of Flint who shall be submitted by the Flint mayor and appointed to the Coordinating Committee by the Governor;
--Three representatives of Genesee County who shall be submitted by the Genesee County Board of Commissioners and appointed to the coordinating Committee by the Governor;
--Three subject matter experts who shall be appointed to the Coordinating Committee by the Governor.

“We need to focus on improving Flint for the longer term,” Snyder said in a press release. “This committee, made up of experts from government and the Flint community, will set a course of action to remedy the water situation and resulting health issues, and carry on long after the emergency declaration expires.”