Additionally, the report clearly finds that the Flint water crisis was caused as a direct result of a decision made by the state-appointed emergency manager – an individual appointed by Governor Rick Snyder to oversee the city’s utilities.
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The task force said MDEQ should receive primary blame for the crisis, citing its failure to use corrosion control chemicals in Flint’s water system to prevent lead leaching.
Anti-corrosion measures were not deployed when Flint, under state financial management, switched the water supply to the Flint River in 2014 to save money.
Support the city of Flint to identify and prioritize replacement of lead service lines and other infrastructure to ensure Flint’s water system is suitable for drinking and everyday use.
The Flint Water Advisory Task Force released its final report after a five-month investigation into the Flint water crisis, and according to co-chair Ken Sikkema, “It doesn’t paint a very pretty picture about certain state agencies, and even local agencies”.
More than 200 of the city’s children have already shown signs of elevated blood-lead levels, and the symptoms of poisoning can set in long after the child is no longer exposed – meaning that a child who appears well now can still face daunting health complications later in life.
Also expected to take criticism, along with the DEQ, are a string of Flint emergency managers, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Snyder, who has apologized repeatedly for his administration’s role in the disaster, and his office were directly involved in some aspects of the crisis and briefed on some of the major decisions surrounding Flint water, the report says. At some point though, you have to say, ‘wait a second, my gut is telling me something’s wrong, ‘ ” said Chris Kolb, a member of the Flint Water Crisis task force.
“I am glad the governor has recommended a total of $232 million in state resources to help the citizens of Flint, but we are still waiting for state lawmakers to appropriate $165 million of that amount”, Weaver said. “The failure to adequately treat the water distributed to homes in the city is a type of mismanagement that should not happen in America”.
“It was a mixture of ignorance, incompetence, and arrogance by many decision-makers that created a toxic and tragic situation that produced the Flint water crisis”, Kolb said. But we do know this: Flint’s children deserve every opportunity to be healthy, and we must come together to develop a comprehensive strategy that guarantees the compassionate care they need to overcome short- and long-term challenges to health. Flint was unable to finish the new system and pipeline by the deadline, so Flint chose to reopen an old local facility that relied on the Flint River as its water source in the interim. And, because these are state agencies and state-appointed emergency managers, the task force said “ultimate accountability” rests with Snyder. Without the checks and counsel provided by such professional advisers as EM Kevyn Orr used in Detroit, an EM appointed by the governor is more likely to make bad calls akin to those handed down in Flint.
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The federal EPA should “exercise more vigor, and act more promptly, in addressing compliance violations that endanger public health”, the report said.
