LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said he had failed Flint residents but pledged to take new steps to fix the city’s drinking water crisis, starting with committing millions in state funding and deploying more National Guard members. The second-term Republican, who devoted most of his annual State of the State speech Tuesday night to the emergency in Flint, also pledged greater transparency. He said he would release on Wednesday his own emails regarding Flint’s water, which became contaminated with too much lead when the city switched its water source in 2014 as a cost-cutting measure. The lead contamination – which can lead to behavior problems and learning disabilities in children and kidney ailments in adults – has left Flint residents unable to drink unfiltered tap water. The National Guard, state employees, local authorities and volunteers have been distributing lead tests, filters and bottled water. Snyder aides pledged that by the end of the week officials would visit every household in Flint to ensure they have water filters. Democrats said Snyder only recently admitted the magnitude of the fiasco, at least three months too late.
