Flint church urges residents to throw away water handed out by FEMA

A Michigan church urged parishioners to throw away water the Federal Emergency Management Agency had recently distributed because of water quality concerns.

The Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church of Flint said bottles of Niagara and Refresh brand water handed out Saturday should be thrown away after getting complaints about the water.

"There were several different brands in the shipment, so the problem could be isolated according to a particular brand," the church wrote on social media. "Either way we are looking into it."

The water came from a FEMA storage facility in Texas, the church said.

Emergency officials said they sent 104, 000 liters of water that were stored in Fort Worth to Michigan Dec. 19. The seven truck loads of water had “Best Before” dates of January/February 2020. They are investigating the water in question.

“FEMA stores its disaster contingency stocks of water in its warehouses in accordance with producer guidance. We do this to avoid waste and allow for beneficial use,” officials said in a statement. "FEMA will continue to investigate the provenance of the water in question to include production date, manufacturer, storage, and shipment history, and take appropriate follow-up actions.”

More than 100 pallets of water were distributed during the weekend water giveaway, MLive reported.

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