Flint Mayor: Allegations By Ex-Official 'Outrageously False'

FLINT, Mich. (AP) - The mayor of Flint is breaking her silence and denying allegations that she was using the city's water crisis to get cash for a political fund.

Former city administrator Natasha Henderson filed a lawsuit Monday, claiming she was dismissed for being a whistleblower. She says she was fired after reporting that Mayor Karen Weaver was trying to steer donations to a campaign fund instead of a charity for families with lead-tainted water.

Weaver released a statement Wednesday, saying Henderson is making "outrageously false claims."

Henderson was hired when Flint was under state emergency management, but she was fired after a year on the job.

The water problem originated when officials decided to use water from the Flint River, but neglected to add a corrosion inhibitor to the system. At the time, officials estimated the cost of buying water from Detroit this year at $16 million, and the overall annual cost of switching to the new Karegnondi Water Authority would be $12.5 million.

"Over all of this time, Flint residents have been exposed to this hazard without the protection of what's supposed to be in federal law, which is a corrosion control program to keep lead low in the water supply. So, the lead problem's been going on ever since the switch," said Mark Edwards, a Virginia Tech professor who oversaw research on the lead in Flint's drinking water in 2015.

Since the swap, residents had complained of the water's funky smell, taste and appearance, as well as adverse health reactions, and doctors discovered that the corrosive river water was drawing lead from aging pipes in some homes.

Weaver was elected to the mayor's office last November after promising to help the city recover from the water mess.

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