House Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., and congressional leaders visited Flint, Michigan, on Friday, and met directly with families affected by the city's water crisis.

On the Ground: Flint's Water Crisis

The city of Flint has been dealing with a water crisis as a result of corroded lead pipes. The problem started in April 2014 when Michigan's emergency manager decided to swap Flint's water source to the Flint River. The swap was an effort to save costs, but toxic water began to affect Flint's water pipes.

"There's a big difference between hearing, seeing and reading about something and actually being on the ground where it's happening," Becerra told Latin Post on Friday afternoon. "You can hear the frustration, you can hear the anger."

But despite the anger, Becerra acknowledged the Flint community were very measured and showed a great deal of respect when discussing the water crisis.

"Can you imagine if for months you've been living your life having to not just drink bottled water but use it to shower, use it to cook, use it to put water in your dog's bowl?" Becerra said, noting he would not have believed the events in Flint would have happened, "but it did."

As Latin Post reported, immigrants at and near Flint have expressed concerns of collecting free clean water due to fear government officials will detain the individual over their immigration status. Becerra said he did speak with Flint's Latinos, including one who shared her experience with the town's immigrant community and she confirmed the reports of immigrants being apprehensive to engage with officials.

Becerra said he did his best to connect people with Flint Mayor Karen Weaver and Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Mich., to continue the conversation. The California congressman also questioned authorities who have been coordinating the relief efforts in order to obtain a better grasp on what more has to be done.

"I told the folks here on the ground that I will follow up with them in the community," said Becerra, noting the community is ready and the federal has stepped up but Republican Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is still missing.

"This is a prescription for having people feel betrayed by their elected officials and ignored and disrespected by their elected officials. I don't understand why the governor is taking so long to man up on this one and take responsibility," said the House Democratic Caucus chairman, adding that Snyder is reportedly sitting on a $1 billion rainy-day fund surplus, which would be beneficial for the thousands in Flint who still expressed concerns in using their faucets.

"At the end, we're an American family. ... It's Flint, Michigan, today, it might be east Los Angeles tomorrow, it might be New Orleans with another [Hurricane] Katrina the day after."

California's Environmental Crisis

Flint's water crisis is not the first environmental dilemma that has captured Becerra's attention. As the representative for California's 34th Congressional District, he has deep understanding of the Exide Technologies' former battery recycling plant in Vernon.

The Exide battery recycling plant would extract as much lead and the other materials from old batteries for recycling and reuse in new batteries. "Unfortunately when dealing with a lot of chemicals and toxins, these plants tend to contaminate the areas where they are and the surrounding areas, and sure enough," said Becerra, "it's impacting some of the people who live in my district in the Los Angeles area."

California's environmental agency closed Exide's Vernon facility in 2014 because of contamination, but the congressman said probably the worst aspect of this scandal was the company operated the plant without a full permit for nearly two decades. Exide has agreed to cleanup its contamination but it's unsure if the company has the necessary resources to complete the process.

Becerra credited California Gov. Jerry Brown and the state legislators' progress on handling the Exide cleanup plan. On Feb. 17, Brown proposed a $176.6 million spending plan to fund "expedited and expanded" testing and cleanup of residential properties, education institutions, daycare centers and parks surrounding the former Exide Technologies facility in Vernon.

"[Brown's proposal] at least helps us move faster because families don't care what the politics are or the negotiations are, they just want their kids to be able to play outside in the backyard and not fear the contamination that comes from the lead that is now in these communities," Becerra said, adding that the next step will be to recuperate funds from Exide that taxpayers had contributed for cleanup.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

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