Michigan AG: It's an 'outrage' that Flint residents are paying an average of $140 a month for water


Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette (R) said words can "barely describe the tragedy" that is the Flint water crisis.
"Things went terribly wrong," he said Monday. "I would certainly not bathe a newborn child or a young infant in the bad water, and if you can't drink the bad water, you shouldn't pay for it." Although the city is no longer getting its water from the polluted Flint River, the water coming out of its taps is still tainted with lead and not safe for children. The Flint Journal reported in 2014 that residents pay on average $140 a month for water, something Schuette calls an "outrage."
In Flint, 40 percent of residents live in poverty and the average annual household income is $25,000, NBC News reports. Many are living off of donated bottled water, and Schuette said his office is investigating to see if it can reimburse residents of Flint for their water bills.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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