The water issue that has been plaguing the residents of Flint, Michigan has been declared as a public health state of emergency by the city's mayor, Karen Weaver. The problem has been traced back to the decision of the local government to switch its supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River in April of 2014. The decision was made in order to cut spending.
Since the switch, the water has been found to contain alarming levels of lead which has since caused lead poisoning to several people residing in the area.
One of the crisis' unfortunate victim is the 2 year old daughter of Luke Weid and Michelle Rodriguez. According to Weid, back in 2014 they have been told by health care professionals that their daughter's blood had elevated lead levels. Upon diagnosis, the family has spent a considerable amount of money to rid their home of lead paint.
"They could have told us months in advance and we could have had home filtration systems set up so that it could have never gotten this far" explained Weid.
The family has since filed a lawsuit against several key members of the Michigan local government including Governor Rick Snyder and former Flint Mayor, Dayne Walling. The lawsuit claimed that there was negligence on the part of the officials as they failed to inform their constituents of the water problem. They knowingly subjected the people in the area with contaminated water.
Sophia, Weid and Rodriguez' 2 year old, has suffered from skin rashes, digestive issues and other health concerns as a result of the high levels of lead in her blood. The family is seeking compensation for the medical expenses they have accrued throughout the crisis and also reimbursement for the repairs they had done in order to decrease the lead in Sophia's blood.