According to newly released emails concerns over the water were dismissed by officials who blamed mayor for exploiting public panic 
 
 Michigan governor Rick Snyder was informed of water quality issues in the city of Flint’s supply as early as February 2015, according to emails released to the public on Wednesday, but his administration struck a dismissive tone, saying the problems would eventually “fade in the rearview”. 
 
 How Michigan's Flint River is poisoning the city's residents Read more 
 
 A background memo sent to the governor on 1 February dismissed the pleas of Flint’s then mayor Dayne Walling for state assistance, saying that the mayor had “seized on public panic … to ask the state for loan forgiveness and more money for infrastructure improvement”. 
 
 Flint’s water supply was contaminated by lead, poisoning thousands of residents, after the source of the city’s drinking water was switched from Detroit to the Flint river in April 2014. Water from the Flint River had for months corroded lead from the inside of water pipes in thousands of households across the city. 
 
 The memo, which was among 274 pages of emails related to the city’s crisis, also said that it was “clear that folks in Flint are concerned about other aspects of their water – taste, smell and color being among the top complaints”, but said that the Safe Drinking Water Act “does not regulate aesthetic values of water”. The words “does not” were underlined. 
 
 
 
 Though the February memo does not specifically mention lead contamination, it does discuss the water quality problems in Flint extensively, including how the city’s water had dangerously high levels of a contaminant called total trihalomethanes, which can lead to liver or kidney issues. Exposure wasn’t a “top health concern”, the memo stated, as it only poses “a public health concern with chronic, long-term exposure”. 
 
 It also talked about corrosion inside of cast-iron pipes – the same process which led to the lead contamination – which is mentioned as a cause of “the brown water that angry residents were holding up in jugs for media cameras last week”. The memo continued: “discoloration is not an indicator of water quality or water safety, but we recognize that nobody likes it.” 
 
 According to David Murray, a spokesman for Snyder, the 1 February email was part of preparations for a press conference to announce additional state resources to help address concerns about the odour and colour of the water in Flint. Murray added that the governor “did not become aware of the severity of the problem with lead until October 1”, and that when he did he responded “aggressively the next day”. 
 
 The 1 February memo to Snyder concluded: “Another key thing to remember is that once the city connects to the new [water] system in 2016, this issue will fade in the rearview”, referring to a planned change to Lake Huron as a source. 
 
 
 
 But later that month, an EPA employee raised concerns for the first time with the Michigan department of environmental quality about the city’s water source, the Flint river, and high levels of lead in water – the beginnings of a crisis Snyder wouldn’t publicly acknowledge until several months later. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Soon after the memo was sent to Snyder, researchers and journalists uncovered a fact that is now well-established: as a result of the state’s failure to properly apply federal standards in treating the Flint river, thousands of residents have been exposed to lead, a neurotoxin that can produce long-term health effects, particularly in young children. 
 
 
 
 Even then, the dismissive approach taken toward Flint’s water quality was prevalent among key environmental officials. In a 31 August email sent by a state environmental employee to EPA officials, the growing concerns over lead in Flint were severely downplayed as an issue the city was “probably not focusing on”. 
 
 
 
 “[The] city has bigger issues on their agenda right now,” the state employee wrote in the email, which was obtained by the Guardian through a public records request, separately from the public release on Wednesday. 
 
 
 
 On 26 September, Snyder’s then chief of staff Dennis Muchmore emailed the governor to say that Flint’s water “certainly has occasional less than savory aspects like color”, but said that the “anti everything group” had turned to the lead content, and that “of course, some of the Flint people respond by looking for someone to blame”. 
 
 A local pediatrician eventually uncovered elevated blood lead levels in Flint children after the city started using the Flint river. But officials vehemently disputed the findings until, in October, Snyder said the situation was far graver than he initially understood, and announced a $12m plan to switch Flint back to its previous supply with Detroit. 
 
 Snyder, a Republican and former businessman, has said he accepts full responsibility for the crisis, emphasising that point in his state of the state speech on Tuesday. 
 
 
 
 “We will not stop working for the people of Flint until every person has clean water, every single day, no matter what,” the governor said on Tuesday. 
 
 
 
 In the speech, the governor promised a $28m additional aid package to expedite recovery efforts in Flint and said he would release his emails from 2014 and 2015 on the city – but not 2013, when the decision was made to use the local river. 
 
 
 
 President Barack Obama, who this week met the newly elected Flint mayor, approved Snyder’s request to declare a federal emergency in the city and provide an additional $5m in financial assistance. The governor has also activated the national guard and requested help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 
 
 
 
 “If I was a parent up there, I would be beside myself that my kids’ health could be at risk,” Obama said in Detroit on Wednesday. “And that’s why over the weekend I declared a federal emergency in Flint to send more resources on top of what we’ve already put on the ground.” ||||| Buy Photo Governor Rick Snyder addresses the Flint water crisis during his State of the State speech on Tuesday January 19, 2016 at the state Capitol Building in Lansing. (Photo: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press)Buy Photo Story Highlights Staffers worried the Flint water crisis was being politicized. 
 
 State was "ultimately responsible" for decision to join Karegnondi Water Authority. 
 
 Governor's e-mails are normally exempt from disclosure. 
 
 Gov. Rick Snyder's staffers worried in September that the issue of lead in Flint's drinking water was being politicized and that the state's responsibility for the crisis was being exaggerated. 
 
 "I can't figure out why the state is responsible except that (then-treasurer Andy) Dillon did make the ultimate decision so we're not able to avoid the subject," Snyder's chief of staff Dennis Muchmore wrote to Snyder in a Sept. 25, 2015, e-mail. 
 
 He followed it up the next morning, writing: "The real responsibility rests with the county, city and KWA," referring to the Karegnondi Water Authority. "But since the issue here is the health of citizens and their children, we're taking a proactive approach." 
 
 Muchmore's e-mail came after a Hurley Medical Center pediatrician reported finding elevated blood lead levels in Flint children. 
 
 Muchmore's e-mails were included in 274 pages of Snyder's e-mails released today in the wake of the water crisis that has led protesters to call for the governor to resign. House Minority Leader Tim Greimel, D-Auburn Hills, said he was very disappointed with redactions in the e-mails and the fact Snyder only released what he said were his own e-mails, instead of all Flint-related e-mails to and from officials in the executive office. 
 
 The first e-mail in the file released by Snyder is from Michael Gadola, then Snyder's legal counsel, and includes 2 1/2 pages of blacked-out text. Most of the other redactions are of e-mail addresses. 
 
 “It’s very disappointing to see the governor play these types of games,” Greimel said. 
 
 Muchmore, who retired Tuesday as Snyder’s chief of staff, told the Free Press that when he wrote that Dillon made the ultimate decision, he meant that the Flint emergency manager reported to Dillon and Dillon “signed off on it.” 
 
 Muchmore said he was referencing Flint’s decision to join the Karegnondi Water Authority, a new pipeline now under construction to Lake Huron. That decision was supported by the locals and the Flint City Council, which endorsed it with a 7-1 vote. 
 
 After the vote, Detroit notified Flint that it was terminating its water contract with Flint in 12 months, which prompted a scramble for an alternative source. A year later, Flint began drawing and treating water from the Flint River for distribution to the city. The river water immediately drew complaints of discoloration, odor and rust. 
 
 Dillon said in an e-mail to the Free Press he was initially reluctant to sign off on Flint moving to the KWA because he didn't think the change would save the cash-strapped city money. He said he changed his mind after he was told in a briefing with the Department of Environmental Quality that the new pipeline would be a cost-saver, and after determining that the Detroit water system was not prepared to give Flint a better deal. 
 
 "However, this was a different decision than the decision to use the Flint River," Dillon said. "I don't recall that decision coming to me." 
 
 Muchmore said Wednesday that the Flint River had always been the backup water source and while there was some disagreement about the issue, no one really talked about the significance of using the river water until after it happened and complaints started pouring in. 
 
 “Everybody thought professionals will treat this water and they will make it good,” Muchmore said today. “Andy ultimately signed off on the KWA because he felt it was acceptable financially, No.1 , and the DEQ had signed off on the technical part of it, and more importantly, the local people wanted to do it." 
 
 The e-mails were released after Snyder made a pledge in his State of the State address Tuesday. Normally, the e-mails would not be disclosed publicly, but Snyder agreed to release them after pressure from the Detroit Free Press and others to make his communications public in the wake of the public health emergency. 
 
 In the e-mails, Muchmore wrote that U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, was "engaged in his normal press hound routine" after the congressman issued a press release noting he'd asked the EPA to help the state deal with the crisis. Muchmore added that then-mayor Dayne Walling "went out on a CYA effort due to the election." 
 
 They also show doubts about returning Flint to the Detroit system and even questioning if the reports of higher lead levels are accurate. 
 
 "They can't reconnect to DWSD even if they wanted to as they sold the connector line," Muchmore wrote Sept. 26. "And, especially with the new rate increases in Detroit, their citizens would be less able to pay than they already are. Now we have the anti everything group turning to the lead content which is a concern for everyone, but DEQ and DHHS and EPA can't find evidence of a major change per Geralyn's memo below." 
 
 Muchmore was referring to a memo from Geralyn Lasher at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services that said blood lead level data examined by Hurley Medical Center Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha didn't match the state's data. 
 
 "Hurley used two partial years of data, MDHHS looked at five comprehensive years and saw no increase outside the normal seasonal increases," Lasher wrote. "The Hurley review was also a much smaller sample than MDHHS data as ours includes all hospital systems in Flint as well as outside laboratories. We have also provided the attached data chart that outlines if the elevated blood lead levels were being driven by a change in water, we would have seen the elevated levels remain high after the change in water source." 
 
 Three days later, Snyder received a daily briefing from staffers laying out the concerns in Flint. The first bullet point in the briefing noted that the most common cause of lead poisoning is from lead paint. 
 
 "Blood lead level testing results for the 12-month period just after the City of Flint changed its water source (May 2014- April 2015) showed no significant change in the pattern of blood lead levels in Flint, compared to the previous three years," Snyder was informed in the briefing. "This data suggests the recent change in water source by the City of Flint has not contributed to an increase in lead exposure throughout the community." 
 
 The briefing went on to estimate that it would cost "$60 million or more" to replace the more than 15,000 lead pipes that connect water mains to homes. 
 
 Very little of the text in the body of the e-mails was written by Snyder himself. The bulk of the messages are staffers writing to Snyder. 
 
 On Sept. 2, Snyder received an e-mail from Harvey Hollins, his director of the office of urban affairs, informing him that 1,500 donated water filters were distributed in Flint within four hours and at least 200 more people wanted them. The name of the donor who provided the filters is redacted from the e-mails though Hollins acknowledged that they "do not want any publicity or credit for their donation the donation." 
 
 Snyder responded three days later: "Factually accurate update, but how did it go over with the residents?" 
 
 "It went over extremely well with the residents," Hollins replied. "There is a demand for more." 
 
 A week after Muchmore's e-mail saying Flint couldn't reconnect to Detroit's system, the city was exploring a way to do just that. 
 
 Snyder did weigh in on the financial aspects of reconnection. 
 
 "We should help get all the facts on the consequences of changing back vs. staying and then determine what financing mechanisms we have available," Snyder wrote in an Oct. 2 message to Muchmore, adding the administration needed "a clear side-by-side comparison of the health benefits and costs of (the Great Lakes Water Authority) vs. a more optimized Flint system. Also, we need to look at what financing mechanisms are available to Flint to pay for any higher cost actions. Please get people working on these two issues ASAP." 
 
 On Oct. 6, Snyder wrote: "We need a better update system re: Flint water," noting that he learned from the media that the Department of Health and Human Services announced the distribution of water filters. 
 
 "This should have come internally with more detail. I had press questions last night," Snyder wrote. "Overall, we should have a daily report on Flint until our recommendations are fully implemented." 
 
 Snyder then cited information he wanted including water test results, blood test results, the number of filters distributed and the analysis of proceeding with water from the Great Lakes Water Authority, the Flint River or the new authority. 
 
 The e-mails show that on Dec. 28, when given advance notice of the letter from the task force that Snyder appointed to look into the issue, which was highly critical of the DEQ, incoming chief of staff Jarrod Agen told Snyder that planned staff changes at the DEQ should be made “sooner rather than later,” and that Snyder should accept Director Dan Wyant’s resignation, which had apparently already been submitted but not accepted. 
 
 Agen also references moving ahead with the dismissal of three DEQ officials, which he said had been planned for Jan. 4. No such dismissals have been announced. DEQ Communications Director Brad Wurfel resigned the same day Wyant did. Earlier, the head of the drinking water section had been re-assigned, but not dismissed. 
 
 Snyder had to sign off on the release of the e-mails. The governor’s office and Legislature are exempt from Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act, which requires public disclosure of records related to government. Michigan is one of only two states that apply a blanket exemption to electronic communication from the governor's office and Legislature. 
 
 Greimel said the situation demonstrates why Michigan’s FOIA should immediately be extended to cover both the governor’s office and the Legislature. 
 
 Snyder has said he would not compel members of his administration to publicly release their e-mails. 
 
 Free Press staff writers Keith Matheny, Kristi Tanner and Rochelle Riley contributed to this report. 
 
 Contact John Wisely: 313-222-6825 or jwisely@freepress.com. On Twitter @jwisely. 
 
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– Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has, as promised, released hundreds of pages of emails relating to Flint and its water crisis—and while there may not be anything in them that will cost him his job, members of his administration will have questions to answer about what appears to be a slow and seemingly dismissive approach to lead contamination in the city's water supply. Highlights from the emails, per the Detroit Free Press and the Guardian: "Once the city connects to the new system in 2016, this issue will fade in the rearview," an aide predicted in a Feb. 1 memo. The same memo mentions the pipe corrosion that was later found to be responsible for lead contaminating the city's water supply, dismissing it as an aesthetic problem. "Discoloration is not an indicator of water quality or water safety, but we recognize that nobody likes it," the aide wrote. "I can't figure out why the state is responsible except that (then-treasurer Andy) Dillon did make the ultimate decision so we're not able to avoid the subject," then-chief of staff Dennis Muchmore wrote in a Sept. 25 email in which he called the issue a "political football" that those in Flint were trying to dump on the state. The next day, Muchmore wrote that while Flint's water "certainly has occasional less than savory aspects like color," the "anti-everything" group was looking at lead contamination and "Flint people respond by looking for someone to blame." In an Aug. 31 email from a state employee to EPA officials obtained by the Guardian separately from the Snyder emails, the employee says Flint probably wasn't paying much attention to the contamination because the "city has bigger issues on their agenda right now." Not many of the emails came from Snyder himself, who wasn't legally required to make them public. He has said that he tackled the problem aggressively when it was revealed how serious it was. In later emails, the Republican governor demands daily updates on the Flint situation until recommendations such as the distribution of water filters have been implemented, the Free Press notes. President Obama addressed the issue when he visited Michigan on Wednesday, the New York Times adds. "The notion that immediately families were not notified, things were not shut down—that shouldn’t happen anywhere," he said in a CBS interview that will air Sunday.