Detroit, May 8 (RHC)-- In the U.S. city of Detroit, municipal officials are set to begin shutting off the water supply to as many as 17,000 homes whose residents are 60 days or $150 behind on their water bills.  The United Nations has condemned the water shutoffs as a violation of international human rights law. 

This comes as Flint Mayor Karen Weaver said her city is planning to sue the state of Michigan, after Republican Governor Rick Snyder canceled a state-subsidized bottled water program earlier this month even though many Flint homes still have dangerously high levels of lead in their tap water. 

In related news, the state of Michigan has allowed Nestlé to withdraw 400 gallons a minute from the state’s groundwater table despite receiving over 80,000 public comments against the project.  Nestlé is not required to pay anything to extract the water, besides a small permitting fee to the state and the cost of leases to private landowners.