The congressional hearing Wednesday on Flint’s water crisis was full of anger and indignation, name-calling and finger pointing even though some players were missing – including Gov. Rick Snyder, who one lawmaker accused of poisoning the children of Flint.
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Democrats proposed an amendment last week that would authorize up to $400 million in emergency federal funding to replace and fix lead-contaminated pipes in Flint.
Angela Minicuci, a spokeswoman with the state Department of Health and Human Services, told the Detroit Free Press (http://on.freep.com/1Pk59dl ) some immigrants were initially denied water because they couldn’t show ID.
“The increase of the illnesses closely corresponds with the timeframe of the switch to the Flint River water,”Jim Henry, Genesee County’s environmental health supervisor, wrote March 10 to Flint leaders, the city’s state-appointed emergency financial manager and the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)”.
Bolden says he informed the committee that Earley would be willing to appear on another date, although Earley might invoke his right to remain silent.
“We’re calling on the U.S. Marshals to hunt (Earley) down and give him that subpoena”, the Utah Republican said. Democrats blame the Republican governor and some Republicans have targeted the EPA for failing to intervene sooner.
Joel Beauvais said Wednesday that EPA’s regional staff urged MI officials “to address the lack of corrosion control” but that state officials delayed responding.
Majority Republicans rejected Democrats’ calls to double the appropriation to $60 million so residents would be fully credited for their bills. Chaffetz said the committee will interview Hedman under oath this month.
“The people of MI, the people of Flint, through their tax dollars have stood with the people of Texas”, Stabenow said.
“It’s hard to find moral justification in having (residents) pay for water that is not suitable for consumption nor, until recently, for bathing”.
The Legislature has approved $37 million in emergency funding for Flint for the current fiscal year.
Those two facts are apparent from a video of the March 25, 2013, Flint City Council meeting, where the council voted 7-1 to leave the Detroit water system for the KWA, which, once completed, would deliver raw Lake Huron water to the Flint water treatment plant for purification and distribution.
The 21,000 paying customers, in addition to people who have since moved away, would get a credit for 65 percent of the water portion of their combined water/sewer bill.
But he says state officials were not the only ones who made mistakes in Flint.
“The city, the state, the local government officials, the governor, all know that this was catastrophically wrong”, Murphy said.
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Creagh says city officials did not follow proper protocol in conducting lead sampling of homes, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “did not display the sense of urgency that the situation demanded”. “There are a lot of complex issues that the committee will be interested in hearing”.
