"That was a terrible tragedy to have happened," said Governor Rick Snyder. "We had a failure at local, state, federal levels of government, and we need to step up and do something about it, and that's my answer to that is we need to just go fix it."
But civil rights groups and leaders are taking their frustration to the streets.
"I want people to focus on solutions and I appreciate their comments," said Snyder. "We're focusing on getting an infrastructure study done. It's underway in terms of doing that work, and I want to come up with solutions."
Solutions that will take time as the state provides bottled water and other resources for now.
"We're focusing on getting the water turned back on in terms of making it safe to drink out of the tap and that study in terms of taking samples and getting that done is actually has commenced now," said Snyder.
It may take several weeks to get the water tested and approved by third parties.
"We're recoating the pipes as part of that process," said Snyder. "Longer term we're starting the infrastructure study that has already begun to look for where the lead pipes are, and then how do you come up with the right process and path to replace those lead pipes over time."
But it's not clear how much longer that process will take.
"We're still learning where all the pipes are, and one of the biggest challenges so part of the study is there are about 10,000 unknown pipes in particular," explained Snyder.
Hoping to set an example in the long run.
"We have a lot of dated, out of date, and potentially dangerous things in the ground that we need to address," said Snyder. "Let's do something about that. Let's learn from the experience in Flint, the challenges in other places to say how we can do better all across Michigan and be a leader in our country."
