FLINT, MI -- A Flint woman who lived in a home where lead levels spiked and lead fishing sinkers were found inside her plumbing sought donations online, claiming she had been poisoned by city water.

The woman started a GoFundMe campaign July 1, telling potential donors she needed $2,000 to pay for property taxes and home insurance after having been "poisoned by the water that our governor decided to pump into our homes to save the state money."

One month later, a local plumber "discovered what appeared to be lead fishing sinkers in the bathtub faucet" of the home, according to records released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

EPA documents, including a video of the lead sinkers and internal emails, were posted online previously by Flint Water Study, the group created by students and staff at Virginia Tech university who have worked on Flint water issues, including professor Marc Edwards.

On Friday, Sept. 29, Flint Water Study published additional information about the GoFundMe campaign, which has raised $655 of a goal of $2,000.

In part, the fund-raising solicitation says the homeowner was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, "which my doctor concluded was most likely caused by the high lead levels that are still present in my water."

"Even with my condition I'm still trying to work two jobs to keep a roof over my head but lately have found it difficult to make it to work everyday. Because I basically live paycheck to paycheck I have found it impossible to put any money away in the bank for my property taxes and homeowner's insurance, which is coming due ...," the GoFundMe page says.

An EPA spokeswoman has confirmed to MLive-The Flint Journal that the agency is aware of the lead sinker discovery and said in a statement that prior to the discovery, "a non-government individual was doing some assessment work in the same resident's home."

"EPA can neither confirm nor deny the existence of any criminal or civil investigation into the matter," EPA said in a statement to The Journal, which is not identifying the homeowner.

EPA records published by Flint Water Study say the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality "is well aware of the issue and is investigating," but DEQ has not responded to requests for comment from The Journal.

Lead is a poison, which fetuses, infants, young children and pregnant women are most susceptible to, according to the World Health Organization.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Association and public health agencies have warned of the potential danger of lead in the form of fishing sinkers to both wildlife and humans.

Flint's water crisis developed after lead leached into the water from pipes, solder and home plumbing.

After the city changed its water source to the Flint River in April 2014, the DEQ did not require the city to treat the water to make it less corrosive to lead in home plumbing and pipes.

Lead levels across the city spiked while the river was in use for 17 months though testing by the city and state of Michigan registered lower contamination than testing by Edwards and Virginia Tech.