Michigan Attorney General Investigates Flint Water Crisis As Governor Asks For Federal Help

Following the deployment of the National Guard to Flint to help out with water distribution, the Michigan Attorney General has announced he is looking into what laws have been broken in the water crisis.

A little background: The city of Flint was forced by the state appointed emergency manager of Detroit to stop using that city’s water supply. So Flint started drawing from the Flint River into pipes that were old and degraded. The result was a town drinking toxic levels of lead.

In making his announcement this morning, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said the situation "is a human tragedy in which families are struggling with even the most basic parts of daily life."

The EPA informed the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality last April that the water in Flint contained dangerous levels of lead.  But that fact wasn't immediately made public, leading to a far-reaching water crisis that could end up qualifying for federal emergency status due to the fact it was a man-made disaster.

Federal prosecutors said earlier this month they're working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on an investigation into problems with lead in Flint's water supply.

The announcement from Michigan's attorney general comes just hours after Governor Rick Snyder announced he's asking President Barack Obama to issue an emergency and major disaster declaration.

Earlier this week, the Michigan National Guard was deployed to the city to help distribute clean water to residents with contaminted water coming out of their taps.