FLINT, MI -- Gov. Rick Snyder has signed an executive order creating a committee to "work on long-term solutions to the Flint water situation and ongoing public health concerns affecting residents."
The executive order signed today, Jan. 11, creates the Flint Water Interagency Coordinating Committee, the governor's office announced in a news release.
The statement from the governor's office says the new committee will include experts from government and the community and will "set a course of action to remedy the water situation and resulting health issues, and carry on long after the emergency declaration expires."
Snyder declared a state of emergency in Flint Jan. 5 but has yet to say whether the city's request for help with toxic lead in its drinking water will be forwarded to the federal government.
Multiple state agencies are now involved in providing short-term assistance for filter and water distribution as a result of the state emergency declaration.
The new committee will analyze any long-term effects of high lead levels in Flint residents and recommend action, and will include 17 members, including director of the state's Office of Urban Initiatives; director of the Department of Environmental Quality, or his or her designee; and the mayor of Flint.
The new committee is the second group Snyder has appointed in connection to the Flint water crisis.
In October, the governor appointed the Flint Water Advisory Task Force, asking it to review and report on all actions that led to Flint's problems with lead in water.
Researchers and city officials have said lead levels began to rise in Flint water and in the blood of young children after the city changed its water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River while the city was being run by a state-appointed emergency manager.