When Flint switched its water supply in 2014, city and state officials said the water was safe.
In the meantime, Keri Webber says her family was quickly poisoned. The first problem came when she took her daughter to the hospital for a bone scan.
“They pulled me out of the room where she was having it done and asked me what we had done to our daughter,” said Webber.
Doctors wondered, did she poison her with lead? Lead could be seen in her daughter's bones. The 16-year-old now has liver function problems.
Then her other daughter caught Legionnaires Disease from taking a shower at their home. Her husband lost vision in one eye, due to high blood pressure doctors say was caused by lead poisoning. The medical bills are piling up.
Even their dogs and cat got sick.
“We have buried one dog. She was necropsied and found to have died from lead poisoning,” said Webber.
When she heard, she as a tax payer, was paying for Governor Rick Snyder’s defense attorneys because the governor signed a contract, she was outraged.
On Wednesday morning, her attorney, former Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer asked a court to investigate whether the governor violated the law when he approved a state contract that benefits only him.
“He signed a contract in which he is the only beneficiary,” said Brewer.
Brewer says that violates the state constitution. Webber says she is taking on this legal fight because she sees the state spending money on luxuries, such as offices for legislators, and feels Flint is forgotten.
“Here in Flint we can’t drink our water. How can you carry on with all these mundane things? The new office? When you have 100,000 people who can’t turn on the tap without being poisoned,” said Webber.
A spokesperson for Gov. Rick Snyder (R-Michigan) says due to the amount of legal work required, it was necessary to retain outside counsel to assist lawyers from the Attorney General's office. Since these lawsuits are brought against the Office of the Governor in an official capacity, it is legally sound to use public dollars to respond to them.
