NewsOne

Federal authorities involved in the investigation into the Flint water crisis claim filtered water in the city is now safe to drink.

The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and the local and state agencies, released a statement:

“The use of NSF verified filters makes water safe from lead for all populations. Pregnant and nursing women and children no longer need to drink bottled water to avoid lead exposure as long as they drink water that has passed through a filter rated to remove lead from drinking water.”

Despite authorities’ claims that filtered water is safe for human consumption, Flint Mayor Karen Weaver says that some homes’ faucets do not fit the filters, and therefore bottled water is still needed for many.

During Monday’s edition of NewsOne Now, guest host Avis Jones-DeWeever and her panel of guests discussed the latest development in the ongoing Flint crisis that continues to baffle the nation.

Gianno Caldwell, a contributor to TheHill.com, said bottled water in Flint “was going for about ten bucks for one bottle of water…people are suffering here.”

The NewsOne Now panelist did not feel as if the water filters Flint residents are being given are sufficient. He told Jones-DeWeever, “I think they really need to do something to reimburse these folks who have spent countless dollars – these folks that have been harmed by this poisonous water. They need to make sure that there’s some way that these people are being compensated, because there was obviously negligence by the state and local officials, including the federal government.”

Former White House official Will Jawando said Gov. Rick Snyder “still needs to resign” and added, “If anyone else would have done this in any other state, they would have had his head on a platter.”

Jawando also stated the water crisis was a result of failures of government on “all levels.”

Lauren Victoria Burke, contributing writer for NBC News, was critical of President Barack Obama not using his pulpit a lot earlier to raise awareness for the manmade disaster.

This is a group of Americans in an American city having a problem they shouldn’t be having with a basic need,” she said.

Burke took her criticism of the Obama administration’s handling of the crisis a step further by highlighting their willingness to allocate funds for other crises in other nations and “every other person someplace else being a priority except the people here.”

The outspoken panelist believes these policy practices by the current administration could play right into the hands of the GOP’s presumptive nominee Donald Trump, who continues to push the message of “taking care of Americans first.”