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Phila. Leaders Show Support For People Of Flint, Michigan

By Steve Tawa

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- In response to the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, elected officials, members of clergy and community leaders are banding together in Philadelphia, to show support for people there.

Noting the suffering and hardship of the people of Flint, State Representative Vanessa Lowery Brown, a Philadelphia Democrat and chair of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus invoked the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

Minister Rodney Muhammad of the Philadelphia Chapter of the NAACP believes state-appointed emergency managers in Michigan improperly handled the situation, in the name of saving money. He says they switched the water supply from Lake Huron to the dirty Flint River, without even spending money to test the water, when they changed the source from the lake to the river.

"This is not a government mishap. This is a crime."

He says yellow tape should go around the borders of the city.

"Anything you do you're tampering with evidence, because this thing's got to go to court. Somebody really should go to jail over this."

The river has a notorious history - so much so, that the locals call it the "General Motors sewer."

Philadelphia Councilwoman Helen Gym told the gathering there will be a hearing next month in City Council chambers on lead exposure in the Philadelphia water system. The Philadelphia Water Department regularly conducts lead testing, and deploys anti-corrosion treatment to ensure water quality. Gym also says Council is joining the national outcry, by asking the Department of Justice to conduct an investigation.

"What happened in flint was not an environmental problem, it was a man-made crisis and man-made crime."

Representative Brown also called for state hearings on water conditions throughout the Commonwealth.

 

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