Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Mich. AG Files Charges Against Firms Over Water Crisis: 'They Failed Miserably In Their Job'
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette (R) on Wednesday filed civil charges against two engineering firms that he said 鈥渂otched鈥 their work on Flint鈥檚 water supply system, contributing to the city鈥檚 ongoing lead-polluted water crisis. The complaint filed Wednesday in a Genesee County Circuit Court targets Veolia North American, part of a global corporation that specializes in operating water and sewer systems for municipalities, which contracted with Flint in early 2015 to help with its drinking water quality. (Dennis, 6/22)
Milwaukee will receive a $1 million state loan this year to begin work on an enormous and costly task of replacing 70,000 lead water pipes throughout the city. And the first priority will be replacing pipes to 385 state-licensed day care centers, public works officials said Thursday. No public school buildings now in use within the Milwaukee Public Schools district receive water through lead pipes, so the city will focus on the licensed day cares with young children. (Behm, 6/23)
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is calling on federal regulators to use new powers under the toxic substances reform bill to determine if the industrial chemical PFOA should be restricted or banned. The New York Democrat says in a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday that health concerns about the chemical have been heightened by the recent discovery of drinking water contamination in upstate New York, Vermont and New Hampshire. (6/23)