Flint water crisis: Michigan governor's advisers warned months before disclosure

Rick Snyder's advisers suggested to stop using corrosive river and buy residents bottled water before contamination 'gets too far out of control', emails reveal

Despite concerns among advisers to Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan regarding water quality in Flint, state officials for months rebuffed suggestions to switch the city back to its previous water supply, citing cost as a primary factor, emails released by Snyder's office on Friday showed.

Advisers advocated moving Flint back to its prior drinking water source only months after the city made a fateful April 2014 switch from Lake Huron water to a local river. Following the switch, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) did not require Flint to treat the river water with anti-corrosion agents, allowing lead to leach off pipes and flow into households.