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For Immediate Release
Contact:

Kate Fried, Food & Water Watch, (202) 683-4905, kfried@fwwatch.org

Is Flint Water Also Causing Legionnaire's Disease?

 Statement of Lynna Kaucheck, Senior Organizer, Food & Water Watch

WASHINGTON

"The Flint water crisis reached disturbing new heights this week with revelations that cases of Legionnaires' Disease there have spiked since it switched its water source to the Flint river. There were 87 cases in Genesee County from June 2014 to November 2015, 10 of which resulted in death. According to a national water quality expert, it's possible that improper treatment of the river's water is responsible for the outbreak.

"The water crisis in Flint is a total abomination. Governor Snyder and his administration could have protected Flint residents, but instead they turned a blind eye, even assuring residents that their water was safe. The situation in Flint is the very definition of a man-made public health crisis. It's a human rights violation, and it's beyond unacceptable.

"Since it's clear that the Snyder administration cannot adequately address this crisis, it's time the federal government stepped in. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services should declare a state of emergency to give Flint residents the resources they so desperately need."

Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people's health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests.

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