Congress OKs money for Flint

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – The U.S. House of Representatives on Sept. 28 by a vote of 399-25, passed H.R. 5303, the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which includes an amendment to authorize $170 million to repair water infrastructure in Flint. WRDA provides authorization to fund water infrastructure projects across the country. The amendment was offered by congressmen Dan Kildee (D-Flint) and John Moolenaar (R-Midland).

The Kildee-Moolenaar amendment passed with an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 284 to 141, with support from 101 Republicans and 183 Democrats.

“The passage of WRDA in the House is a critical step to ensuring that Flint families get the resources they need to recover from this crisis," Kildee said. "I am grateful to my colleagues in the House who voted to include my amendment, which provides $170 million in federal aid to Flint."

The money for Flint comes a year after elevated lead levels in the city's water became a known crisis. At press time there was still negotiating to be done between the House and Senate versions of the bill, but both had provisions of significant monetary help for Flint. A conference committee to set the funding level for Flint won't take place until after the Nov. 8 election.

The House version authorizes $170 million for replacement of Flint's water infrastructure. The Senate version offers $100 million plus $20 million in forgiven past loans, but it offers potentially more via nationwide funding.

Replacement of miles of old lead service water lines in Flint are seen by many as the only reasonable step toward ending the health crisis.

The action in Congress came at the same time as Virginia Tech University scholar and researcher Dr. Marc Edwards was warning the public that water emanating from lead pipes "can't be guaranteed to be safe" without the use of a filter.

"We can probably never keep lead out of the water to the extent that we'd like to," Edwards said. "There is a strong belief . . . that no matter how good corrosion control is, we will never again be able to say that water from a lead pipe is safe."

Lipton is now a union tea

SUFFOLK, Va. (PAI)—Lipton Tea is now union tea. That’s because the 200 workers at its only U.S. plant, in Suffolk, Va., voted just before Labor Day to unionize with Food and Commercial Workers Local 400. The workers make almost all Lipton Tea consumed in North America. “I woke up this morning feeling wonderful,” Lisa Gayle, a 14-year worker, told Local 400. “As a unified group, now we can make Lipton the best place it can be. I’m so excited!” Key issues in the organizing drive included “drafting” workers to toil on 12-hour shifts for up to 13 days in a row and declining benefits, UFCW said. Local 400 President Mark Federici praised the Lipton workers’ “courage, commitment and tireless efforts…to stand up for themselves.”