You were not in a medically induced coma….
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Mr Snyder pushed back when US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Gina McCarthy sought to downplay her agency’s role in the crisis.
MI officials did not require that the river water be treated for corrosion, and lead from aging pipes and fixtures leached into Flint homes and businesses for almost two years. In January after the switch, they and President Obama declared a state of emergency and began delivering bottled water to the city of almost 100,000 residents. Susan Hedman, the EPA regional director, resigned in February over her handling of the crisis, but she denied any wrongdoing when she testified earlier this week. “I wish we had gone further, I wish we had gone farther, I wish we had yelled from the treetops”, McCarthy said. But he also blamed the EPA and others while defending his administration’s response.
Representative Cummings responded, “You know what?”
“They had one of their water quality experts out of Chicago, Miguel del Toral, had written an interim report and was trying to bring the organization in, and they hid behind their bureaucracy”, he says.
“Not at that time”, McCarthy replied. “We all failed the families of Flint”, he said at the hearing to uncover what went wrong in the city, and what steps are being taken to clean up the water supply.
But it didn’t take long for some Democrats on the House committee to reject his testimony.
Dennis Muchmore, Snyder’s former chief of staff, wrote emails in July 2015 warning that Flint residents who had complained about the smell, taste and appearance of the water were “getting blown off” by state officials.
Snyder was grilled by members of Congress, but most notably by Rep. Matt Cartwright of Pennsylvania.
“Congressman, I read a number of those stories”. “This is good news, and we believe it is the result of changes in water treatment that reduce the release of lead from pipes and other sources”.
The crisis was a huge blow to Flint, a once-thriving Rust Belt city already struggling from years of auto industry shutdowns and layoffs.
“We have no evidence of you traveling to Flint for seven months, Governor”. – Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va.
“I’m glad you’re sorry now. You were missing in action”.
In March 2015, for example, a Snyder aide was informed of an uptick in cases of Legionnaires’s disease, a bacterial infection that killed 10 people in Flint.
“Governor Snyder’s administration caused this horrific disaster”.
“Not one. Not one”, Connolly said.
► “It look like everyone knew about this problem but you”.
“There’s no evidence, even after you were warned by the mayor of Flint they had problems, and they begged you to come to Flint”. I’m looking at somebody else and I want to see responsibility, too. “Again, I appreciate the fact there are multiple investigations going on”. “There is no doubt in my mind that if a corporate CEO did what Governor Snyder’s administration has done, he would be hauled up on criminal charges”, Cummings said during his opening statement.
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“I took immediate action as soon as I learned there was a lead issue. You failed”, Chaffetz said. “You still don’t get it”.
